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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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https://archive.org/details/nationalexpositiOOfarm 


Martha  Washington, 


The  National  Exposition  Souvenir 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMEN 


EDITED  BY 

LYDIA  HOYT  FARMER 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

Julia  Ward  Howe 


buffalo 

CHICAGO  NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  WELLS  MOULTON 

1893 


Copyright,  1893, 

By  LYDIA  HOYT  FARMER. 


Printed  by  C.  W.  Moulton,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


DEDICA  TED 


TO 

THE  WOMEN  OF  AMERICA, 


PREFACE. 


As  American  women  have  been  imperfectly  represented  to  the  world  it  is 
our  aim  in  this  volume  to  give  a  pen  portrait  of  the  American  Woman 
Past  and  Present ;  not  in  the  way  of  boastful  assertions ,  nor  by  pleading 
for  her  rights  which  have  already  been  awarded  her ;  but  by  statements 
of  her  achievements  in  the  lines  of  literature,  philanthropy,  church  work, 
education,  science,  industry,  medicine,  business,  art,  music,  invention, 
home  life,  domestic  science,  etc.,  that  thereby  the  subtle,  yet  powerful  in- 
ftuence  of  woman  in  the  development  of  this  great  country  may  be  mani¬ 
fested  and  strengthe7ied.  Thus  there  shall  be  cofislructed  a  fitting  memo¬ 
rial  of  the  American  Woman  of  the  Past,  and  an  inspiring  model  for  the 
American  Woman  of  the  Future. 

We  harue  endeavored  to  make  this  book  a  valuable  Souvenir  of  the  Col- 
umbian  Exposition. 

These  portraits  have  been  sketched  by  many  pens,  for  no  one  writer 
could  have  accomplished  the  object  desired. 

When  a  work  is  written  by  so  ma7iy  persons,  it  ca7inot  be  expected  that 
the  editor  will  be  responsible  for  the  various  opinions  expressed  by  the 
writers ;  or  that  the  responsibility  of  each  author  will  extend  beyond  her 
own  contribution. 

As  Editor,  I  desire  to  acknowledge  my  appreciation  of  the  cordial  cobp- 
eratio7i  of  my  collaborators  in  this  work  ;  and  to  thank  the  Board  of  Lady 
Managers  of  the  Colmnbian  Exposition,  who  have  aided  this  enterprise 
by  their  interest  and  mfluence.  I  here  offer  also  thanks  to  the  editors  of 
the  leading  magazines  and  journals,  and  to  many  others  throughout  this 
country,  who  have  so  courteously  and  promptly  resp07ided  to  requests  for 
information  upon  various  lines  of  woman' s  iife  a7id  work,  thereby  greatly 
assisting  in  the  laborious  task  of  collecting  necessary  data  in  the  several 
departments  of  this  book. 

To  our  Publisher,  also,  we  are  greatly  indebted  for  the  artistic 
setting  of  this  National  Expositio7i  Souvenir,  and  for  the  use  of  tna7iy 
portrait  plates  prepared  for  “  A  Woma7i  of  the  Century,"  recently  pub¬ 
lished  by  Mr.  Charles  Wells  Moulton. 

L  YD  I  A  HO  YT  FARMER. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  May  ist,  1893. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Editor’s  Preface .  5 

Introduction .  13 

Julia  Ward  Howe, 

SOME  WOMEN  IN  AMERICAN  HISTORY. 

Chapter  I. 

What  America  owes  to  Isabella  of  Castile  and  to  Madame  La  Fayette  .  19 

Lydia  Hoyt  Farmer. 

Chapter  II. 

Columbus  at  Santa  F£ .  30 

Virginia  F.  Townsend. 

Chapter  III. 

The  Women  of  Plymouth  Colony .  36 

Jane  G.  Austin. 

Chapter  IV. 

The  Lady  Arbella .  40 

Lucy  Larcom. 

Chapter  V. 

Puritan  Womanhood:  A  Power  in  America .  44 

Linda  T.  Guilford. 

Chapter  VI. 

The  Women  of  the  American  Revolution .  50 

Mrs.  Elroy  M.  Avery. 

Chapter  VII. 

Autobiographical  Sketch  .  58 

Mrs.  Ulysses  S.  Grant. 

Chapter  VIII. 

Wives  of  the  Presidents .  60 

Editorial. 


8 


CONTENTS. 


WOMEN  IN  THE  HOME. 

Chapter  IX.  page 

Wives  and  Daughters  in  the  Home . 105 

Agnes  Bailev  Ormsbee. 

Chapter  X. 

Domestic  Science  in  American  Homes . 112 

Editorial. 

Chapter  XI 

Clergymen’s  Wives . 123 

Mrs.  Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

Chapter  XII. 

The  Wives  of  Army  Officers . 125 

Jessie  Benton  Fremont. 

Chapter  XIII 

The  American  Salon . 129 

Editorial. 

Chapter  XIV. 

Social  Leaders  of  Washington . 137 

Leonora  B.  Halsted. 

Chapter  XV. 

The  Southern  Woman,  Past  and  Present . 147 

Mrs.  Frank  Leslie. 

Chapter  XVI. 

Physical  Culture  of  American  Women . 15 1 

Annie  Jenness  Miller. 

Chapter  XVII. 

The  American  Girl,  Past  and  Present . 154 

Editorial. 

Chapter  XVIII. 

Every-day  Women . 173 

Lucy  M.  Spelman. 

Farmers’  Wives  and  Daughters . 175 

Jennie  E.  Hooker. 


CONTENTS. 


9 


WOMEN  IN  LITERATURE. 

Chapter  XIX.  page 

Women  in  Literature  and  Poetry . 181 

Editorial. 

Chapter  XX. 

Women  Fiction  Writers  of  America . 194 

Ellen  Olney  Kirk, 

Chapter  XXI. 

Women  Journalists  in  America . 205 

Susan  E.  Dickinson. 

WOMEN  IN  EDUCATION  AND.  SCIENCE. 

Chapter  XXII. 

Women  in  Education  and  Science . 215 

Editorial. 

Kindergartens . 218 

Editorial. 

Chapter  XXIII. 

Women  as  Teachers . 222 

Eliza  Hardy  Lord. 

Chapter  XXIV. 

Massachusetts  Normal  Schools . 232 

Mrs.  Kate  Gannett  Wells. 

Chapter  XXV. 

Wellesley  College  Towards  Liberal  Education . 240 

Anne  Eugenia  Morgan. 

Chapter  XXVI. 

An  American  Queen  . . 247 

Gail  Hamilton. 

Chapter  XXVII. 

Sketch  of  Maria  Mitchell . 264 

Frances  Fisher  Wood. 


IO 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  XXVIII.  PAGE 

Women’s  Work  at  the  Harvard  Observatory . 271 

Helen  Leah  Reed. 

WOMEN  IN  PHILANTHROPY,  CHURCH  WORK,  HOME 
MISSIONS  AND  CHARITIES. 

Chapter  XXIX. 

Woman’s  Progress . 2% 

Frances  E.  Willard. 

Chapter  XXX. 

The  Work  of  Women  During  the  War . 289 

Mary  A.  Livermore. 

Chapter  XXXI. 

Women’s  Work  for  Indians . 294 

Mrs.  Amelia  S.  Quinton. 

Chapter  XXXII. 

The  Woman’s  Club  Movement . 305 

J.  C.  Croley.  (Jennie  June  ) 

Chapter  XXXIII. 

The  Influence  of  Women  in  American  Politics . 318 

Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster. 

Chapter  XXXIV.. 

Woman’s  Work  in  the  Church . 326 

Editorial. 

Chapter  XXXV. 

Working  Girls’  Clubs .  344 

Grace  H.  Dodge. 

Chapter  XXXVI. 

Woman’s  National  Christian  Temperance  Union . 351 

Editorial. 

Young  Women’s  Christian  Temperance  Work . 354 

Frances  J.  Barnes. 


CONTENTS. 


ir 


Chapter  XXXVII.  page 

Hospitals,  Mission  Schools,  and  Other  Charities . 359 

Editorial. 

Sketch  of  Dorothea  Lynde  Dix . .  367 

L.  Elizabeth  Price. 

Chapter  XXXVIII. 

Two  Women  Whom  I  Have  Known . 370 

Mrs.  Charles  Henrotin. 


WOMEN  IN  PROFESSIONS,  BUSINESS  AND  TRADE. 


Chapter  XXXIX. 

Women  in  Medicine . 

Mary  Putnam  Jacobi,  M.  D. 

Chapter  XL. 

Women  in  Law . . 

Ada  M.  Bittenbender. 

Chapter  XLI. 

American  Women  of  the  Drama . 

Lilian  Whiting. 

Chapter  XLII. 

Women  in  Business  and  Trade . 

Editorial-. 

Chapter  XLIII. 

Queens  of  the  Shop,  the  Workroom  and  the  Tenement 
Katharine  Pearson  Woods. 

Chapter  XLIV. 

Women  Clerks  in  New  York . 

The  Marquise  Clara  Lanza 


381 


390 


409 


416 


435 


444 


WOMEN  IN  ART  AND  MUSIC. 

Chapter  XLV. 


Women  in  Art  and  Music 


Editorial. 


S55 


CONTENTS. 


i  2 

Chapter  XLVI  .  PAGE 

Women  Artists . 460 

Maude  Haywood. 

Chapter  XLVII. 

Women  Art  Patrons . 463 

Helen  Evertson  Smith. 

EXPOSITION  NOTES. 

Chapter  XLVIII. 

Address  at  the  Dedicatory  Ceremonies,  October,  21,  1892 . 473 

By  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer. 

Ode: — “  Columbia’s  Banner.” . 478 

Edna  Dean  Proctor. 

Chapter  XLIX. 

The  Board  of  Lady  Managers . 480 

The  Woman’s  Branch  of  the  World’s  Congress  Auxiliary . 4S3 

Chapter  L. 

The  Woman’s  Building . 4S5 

The  Children’s  Building . 4S7 

Exhibits  by  Women . 489 


INTRODUCTION. 


Mrs.  Julia  Ward.  Howe, 


A  SUMMING  UP. 


BY  JULIA  WARD  HOWE.* 


'HE  list  of  topics  already  treated  of  in  the  volume  herewith  given 


1  to  the  public  would  almost  seem  to  leave  no  further  ground  to  be 
occupied  by  a  late  attendant  upon  this  Woman  Symposium.  So 
many  special  points  have  been  touched  upon  and  illustrated  that  it 
seems  better  to  me  to  speak  of  women  in  a  more  general  way,  as 
inspiring  and  exalting  influences  in  the  communities  in  which  they 
have  attained  the  freedom  of  efficiency. 

American  women  are  usually  considered  as  starting  from  a  clear 
vantage  ground  in  the  race  of  life.  As  a  body,  they  have  enjoyed 
better  opportunities  of  education  than  those  enjoyed  by  their  fathers 
and  brothers.  I  mean  by  this  to  say  that  the  average  woman  of 
American  birth,  breeding  and  parentage  is  often  better  informed  and 
mentally  disciplined  than  the  average  American  man.  The  result  of 
this  appears  in  the  exceptional  respect  and  consideration  shown  to 
women  throughout  the  country. 

If  this  is  true,  and  I  think  that  it  can  not  be  denied,  it  is  also  true 
that  women  in  America  have  a  more  difficult  and  complicated  part 
to  play  than  in  other  countries.  Every  enlargement  of  freedom 
brings  with  it  an  extension  of  moral  responsibility;  and  our  women, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  allowed  a  liberty  of  action  and  expression 
unparalleled  in  other  countries,  have  a  debt  to  discharge  to  society 
which  cannot  be  brought  home  to  women  subjected  to  the  closeness 
and  harshness  of  an  exclusively  masculine  rule. 

With  all  that  American  women  have  contributed  to  the  honor  and 
well-being  of  the  country,  and  with  all  the  good  that  can  truly  be 
attributed  to  them  in  the  various  departments  set  forth  in  this 
volume,  I  do  not  feel  that  they  have  as  yet  fulfilled  the  measure  of 
their  obligations  to  the  society  which  concedes  to  them  so  much. 
They  are  slowly  learning  to  work  together,  to  combine  their  efforts  ir 
favor  of  reform  and  of  general  culture.  They  must  also  learn  to 
apply  their  genius  and  knowledge  to  practical  ends  and  to  leave  no 

♦Author  of  “Battle-Hymn  of  the  Republic,”  “Later  Lyrics,”  '‘Words  for  the  Hour,’ 
“  From  the  Oak  to  the  Olive,”  etc. 


i6 


A  SUMMING  UP. 


forbidding  or  distasteful  problem  unexplored  or  unexplained. 
American  women  should  endeavor  to  reconcile  the  discords  and 
contradictions  which  have  hitherto  divided  the  body  of  their  sex, 
thus  diminishing  its  power  for  good.  The  different  classes  of 
women  have  mostly  what  the  French  term  a  raison  d'  etre,  a  reason 
for  existing.  Even  the  class  which  combines  showy  ambitions  with 
poor  and  personal  views  has  its  uses.  But  in  the  domain  of  woman¬ 
hood,  the  real  should  more  and  more  absorb  the  unreal  and  illusory. 
The  solid  should  displace  the  unsubstantial.  And  above  all,  the 
sympathy  of  kind  should  far  transcend  the  antipathy  of  circumstance. 

Woman  is  primarily  the  mother  of  the  human  race.  She  is  man’s 
earliest  and  tenderest  guardian,  his  lifelong  companion,  his  trusted 
adviser  and  friend.  Her  breath  is  the  music  of  the  nursery,  the 
incense  of  the  church.  But  Woman  is  also  capable  of  becoming  the 
bane  of  human  society,  a  false  light,  luring  to  destruction,  a  play¬ 
thing  that  explodes  and  destroys,  an  unreadable  riddle  of  futility 
and  falsehood.  Now  in  the  economy  of  morals,  the  good  is  not  to 
contemn  the  evil,  but  to  reclaim  it.  An  Italian  proverb  says:  “The 
bad  makes  itself  respected;  ”  but  this  really  means  that  it  cannot  be 
passed  by  without  notice,  but  imperatively  calls  for  treatment  and 
remedy.  Our  women  have  in  this  nineteenth  century  won  for 
themselves  new  distinctions  in  many  ways,  on  many  fields  untried 
before.  Few  may  rejoice  in  this  more  sincerely  than  I  do.  But  I 
desire  to  see  them  more  thoroughly  possessed  with  the  great  ideal 
of  womanhood  as  something  which  they  are  more  bound  to  serve 
and  exalt  than  they  are  to  distinguish  and  exalt  themselves.  And, 
as  we  are  admonished  that  we  cannot  at  once  serve  God  and 
Mammon,  I  look  earnestly  to  see  them  obey  the  noblest  teaching 
both  of  their  own  sex  and  of  its  opposite.  Intelligent  men  may 
flatter  silly  women,  imperious  men  may  subdue  slavish  wives  and 
daughters,  sensual  men  may  corrupt  unwary  ones  who  attract  them 
with  the  dangerous  bait  of  physical  beauty.  But  noble  men  will 
never  reason  down  the  souls  of  loyal  and  trusting  women.  They 
will  never  distort  the  truth  of  nature  into  a  weary  and  unmeaning  fable. 

To  see  the  best  men  move  in  sympathy  and  harmony  with  the  best 
women,  and  to  see  both  linked  together  by  zeal  and  service  to  all 
ranks  of  their  fellow  creatures,  this  is  what  my  heart  desires,  this  is 
what  American  men  and  women  owe  to  the  country  whose  debt  to 
them  in  the  past  may  be  recognized,  while  its  claim  upon  them  in 
the  future  extends  far  beyond  the  limits  and  the  records  with  which 
we  have  become  familiar. 


SOME  WOMEN  IN  AMERICAN 
HISTORY. 


‘ '  History  is  the  essence  of  innumerable  Biographies. ' '  — Carlyle. 

The  names  of  Isabella  of  Castile,  and  Madame  La  Fayette,  must 
not  be  overlooked  in  the  list  of  women  who  helped  to  make  Ameri¬ 
can  history.  Miss  Virginia  F.  Townsend,  whose  pleasing  stories  are 
well  known,  describes  the  scene  at  Santa  Fe.  Mrs.  Jane  G.  Austin, 
whose  sketches  of  colonial  times  have  delighted  so  many,  pictures  the 
“  Women  of  Plymouth  Colony.”  Miss  Lucy  Larcom  tells  the  story 
of  ‘‘The  Lady  Arbella,”  in  felicitous  style.  Miss  L.  T.  Guilford 
makes  a  strong  study  of  “  Puritan  Womanhood;”  and  Mrs.  Elroy 
M.  Avery  relates  many  interesting  details  of  ‘‘The  Women  of  the 
American  Revolution.”  By  special  request,  Mrs.  Ulysses  S.  Grant 
favors  us  with  a  charming  autobiographical  sketch,  and  this  depart¬ 
ment  properly  includes  brief  mention  of  the  “Wives  of  the  Presi. 
dents.” — Editor. 


Mrs.  Lydia  Hoyt  Farmer. 


CHAPTER  I. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  ISABELLA  OF  CAS¬ 
TILE  AND  TO  MADAME  LA  FAYETTE. 

BY  LYDIA  HOYT  FARMER.* 

IT  may  be  that  it  must  fall  to  the  lot  of  modern  historians  in  weigh¬ 
ing  impartially  the  acts  of  men  and  women  of  history,  measured 
only  by  the  standards  of  right  and  justice  to  the  human  race,  irre¬ 
spective  of  epoch  or  environment,  to  lay  bare  the  reprehensible  deeds 
of  past  heroes  and  heroines,  viewed  from  more  enlightened  stand¬ 
points  of  increased  recognition  of  the  equality  of  all  men,  irrespective 
of  rank,  race  and  color.  Much  of  the  lustre  of  renown  of  both 
Columbus  and  Isabella  must  be  dimmed  by  remembrance  of  the 
Spanish  Inquisition,  and  the  slavery  of  the  newly  discovered  natives 
of  the  western  world.  This  very  iconoclasm  of  heroic  images  is  one 
of  the  evident  signs  of  moral  advancement  in  human  standards  which 
mark  the  progress  of  the  pervasive  influence  of  the  Golden  Rule  of 
brotherly  equality.  Though  our  historical  heroes  consequently  re¬ 
ceive  less  blind  worship  as  personifications  of  the  highest  ideals  of 
youthful  fancy,  unblemished  by  the  imperfections  of  common  mor¬ 
tals;  the  glory  of  their  heroism  is  no  whit  diminished,  as  the  fact  is 
thereby  emphasized,  that  in  spite  of  acknowledged  human  weakness, 
such  great  results  may  flow  from  human  effort. 

In  this  year  of  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus,  this  nation  does  well  to  render  special  honor 
to  the  memory  of  that  courageous  man,  whom  no  obstacles  could 
daunt,  and  no  ridicule  discourage.  But  let  us  recognize  also  two 


*  Author  of  “  A  Knight  of  Faith,”  “AShort  History  of  the  French  Revolution,”  “  The  Life 
of  La  Fayette,”  “  Famous  Rulers  and  Queens,”  “A  Moral  Inheritance,”  “A  Story  Book  of 
Science,”  etc. 


20 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


other  instruments  in  the  omnipotent  plan.  Two  women  must  share 
this  honor;  the  one,  Doha  Felipa,  who  brought  to  her  husband  as 
her  marriage  dower  the  geographical  charts  inherited  from  her  illus- 
trous  father,  the  renowned  navigator  Palestrello;  the  other,  the  Span¬ 
ish  Oueen  who  pledged  her  crown  jewels  as  a  guarantee  of  her 
imperial  patronage  and  aid. 

The  declaration  of  Isabella  :  “I  undertake  the  enterprise  for  my 
own  crown  of  Castile,  and  will  pledge  my  jewels  to  raise  the  neces¬ 
sary  funds;”  places  her  among  the  names  of  history,  to  whom 
special  honor  is  due  from  American  women. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  in  thus  declaring  her  espousal  of  this  seem¬ 
ingly  hopeless  and  visionary  undertaking,  she  had  the  courage  to 
brave  the  known  disapproval  of  her  royal  consort,  the  sneers  of  an 
incredulous  court,  and  the  opinions  of  the  most  learned  men  of  that 
day. 

She  was  met  by  the  sages  of  Salamanca  with  their  glib,  and  as 
they  thought  irrefutable  quotation  from  Lactantius,  who  was  then 
considered  one  of  the  great  luminaries  “  of  what  has  been  called  the 
golden  age  of  ecclesiastical  learning.” 

“Is  there  any  one  so  foolish,”  asks  Lactantius,  “as  to  believe 
that  there  are  antipodes  with  their  feet  opposite  to  ours;  people  who 
walk  with  their  heels  upward  and  their  heads  hanging  down  ?  That 
there  is  a  part  of  the  world  in  which  all  things  are  topsy-turvy; 
where  the  trees  grow  with  their  branches  downward,  and  where  it 
rains,  hails  and  snows  upwards  ?  The  idea  of  the  roundness  of  the 
earth  is  the  cause  of  inventing  this  fable.” 

Still  more  grave  were  the  objections  advanced  by  the  sages  upon 
the  authority  of  St.  Augustine,  for  the  doctrine  of  the  antipodes  was 
pronounced  incompatible  with  faith  in  the  Bible  records;  for,  said 
they,  ‘ 1  to  assert  that  there  were  inhabited  lands  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  globe,  would  be  to  maintain  that  there  were  races  not  des¬ 
cended  from  Adam,  it  being  impossible  for  them  to  have  passed  the 
intervening  ocean.  This  would  be  therefore,  to  discredit  the  Bible, 
which  expressly  declares  that  all  men  are  descended  from  one  com¬ 
mon  parent.”  Upon  a  woman’s  heroism  hung  the  discovery  of  a 
continent. 

Isabella  of  Castile  pledged  not  only  her  crown  jewels,  but  she 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


21 


risked  her  royal  prestige,  and  endangered  her  proud  fame  in  the 
eyes  of  all  the  world,  when  she  espoused  this  supposed  hopeless 
enterprise. 

If  Columbus  had  failed,  if  no  vessels  had  ever  reached  the  western 
lands,  Isabella  of  Castile  would  have  been  written  in  historic  annals 
as  a  weak  and  visionary  queen.  Such  was  the  risk  she  ran,  which 
in  the  light  of  the  accomplished  facts,  we  must  not  fail  to  remember 
in  giving  due  credit  to  her  brave  resolve  and  daring  deed. 

The  names  of  Columbus  and  Isabella  are  indissolubly  entwined 
with  the  historic  associations  connected  with  the  discovery  of  this 
Western  Hemisphere.  In  order  that  the  Santa  Maria  might  sail  the 
seas,  in  quest  of  a  land  unknown,  the  aid  must  come,  by  divine  de¬ 
cree,  through  a  woman’s  heart  and  hand,  and  the  same  wise  plan 
each  age  unfolds,  for  to  the  world’s  great  needs  women  must  ever  re¬ 
spond  with  helping  hands  and  sympathizing  hearts.  American 
womanhood,— -a  brighter  gem  than  that  royal  crown  on  Isabella’s 
brow, — now  gives  the  rank  of  queens  to  Columbia’s  daughters. 

When  the  Pinta’ s  gun  broke  the  stillness  of  that  momentous  dawn, 
and  the  glad  shout  of  “Land  !”  thrilled  the  morning  air;  before 
the  sight  of  the  weary  seamen  smiled  the  New  World,  like  some  fair 
Eden  fresh  from  the  hand  of  its  Creator. 

Over  the  Western  World  to-day,  float  the  stars  and  stripes  of  our 
republic,  and  Columbia  knows  no  monarch  save  freedom  and  truth, 
and  the  starry  flag  betokens  that  liberty  does  rule. 

Freedom  is  the  birthright  of  our  nation,  and  the  free  school  is  the 
corner  stone  of  the  American  Republic. 

In  this  fair  land  woman  is  honored.  “American  women  are 
the  present  and  the  future  of  American  nobility.  She  has  more 
reason  than  any  other  woman  for  being  not  only  good,  but  elegant 
and  refined.  She  has  to  make  precedent  and  public  opinion.” 

How  white  then  should  be  the  soul  of  every  American  woman. 
Upon  her  influence  depends  largely  the  spiritual  forces  which  shall 
determine  the  status  and  progress  of  our  nation. 

Great  opportunities  in  each  individual  life  come  but  seldom.  If 
lost  they  are  lost  forever.  ‘  ‘  An  opportunity  passed  the  thousandth 
part  of  a  second  has  by  that  one  leap  reached  the  other  side  of  a 
great  eternity.” 


22 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR 


Isabella  of  Castile  did  not  fail  to  seize  her  great  opportunity.  She 
did  not  sail  with  Columbus  over  unknown  seas,  but  she  made  that 
sailing  possible,  when  the  ear  of  the  world  was  deaf  to  the  impor¬ 
tunities  of  the  Italian  navigator. 

Isabella  exemplified  the  potent  possibilities  which  may  be  started 
by  a  woman’s  heart  and  hand,  and  following  her  we  behold  that  long 
line  of  illustrious  women  who,  by  their  self-sacrificing  lives  have 
aided  in  the  development  of  this  country. 

The  royal  standard  of  Isabella  of  Castile,  planted  upon  the  soil  of 
the  New  World,  four  hundred  years  ago,  has  made  possible  the 
shining  banner  of  American  freedom. 

To  Madame  La  Fayette,  also,  belongs  an  honored  place. 

Mr.  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  in  his  memorable  address,  delivered  at 
the  unveiling  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty  in  New  York  Harbor,  the  gift 
of  France  to  America,  thus  ably  comments  upon  the  French  Alliance 
and  the  debt  America  owes  to  General  La  Fayette: 

“The  French  Alliance,  which  enabled  us  to  win  our  indepen¬ 
dence,  is  the  romance  of  history.  It  overcame  improbabilities  im¬ 
possible  in  fiction,  and  its  results  surpass  the  dreams  of  imagination. 
The  most  despotic  of  kings,  surrounded  by  the  most  exclusive  of 
feudal  aristocracies,  sending  fleets  and  armies  officered  by  the  scions 
of  the  proudest  of  nobilities,  to  fight  for  subjects  in  revolt  and  the 
liberties  of  the  common  people,  is  a  paradox  beyond  the  power  of 
mere  human  energy  to  have  wrought  or  solved.  The  march  of  this 
mediaeval  chivalry  across  our  states,  respecting  persons  and  property 
as  soldiers  never  had  before,  never  taking  an  apple  or  touching  a 
fence-rail  without  permission  and  payment;  treating  the  ragged  Con¬ 
tinentals  as  if  they  were  knights  in  armor  and  of  noble  ancestry, 
captivating  our  grandmothers  by  their  gallantry,  and  our  grand¬ 
fathers  by  their  courage,  remains  unequalled  in  the  poetry  of  war. 
It  is  the  most  magnificent  tribute  in  history  to  the  volcanic  force  of 
ideas  and  the  dynamic  power  of  truth,  though  the  crust  of  the  globe 
imprison  them. 

‘  ‘  As  the  centuries  roll  by,  and  in  the  fulness  of  time  the  rays  of 
Liberty’s  torch  are  the  beacon  lights  of  the  world,  the  central  niches 
in  the  earth’s  Pantheon  of  Freedom  will  be  filled  by  the  figures  of 
Washington  and  La  Fayette.  It  is  idle  now  to  speculate  whether 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


23 


our  fathers  could  have  succeeded  without  the  French  Alliance.  The 
struggle  would  have  been  indefinitely  prolonged  and  probably  com¬ 
promised.  But  the  Alliance  secured  our  triumph,  and  La  Fayette 
secured  the  Alliance.  The  fabled  argosies  of  ancient,  and  the  ar¬ 
madas  and  fleets  of  modern  times  were  commonplace  voyages  com¬ 
pared  with  the  mission  enshrined  in  this  inspired  boy.  He  who 
stood  before  the  Continental  Congress  and  said,  ‘  I  wish  to  serve  you 
as  a  volunteer,  and  without  pay,’  and  at  twenty  took  his  place  with 
Gates,  and  Green,  and  Lincoln  as  major-generals  in  the  Continental 
army.  As  a  member  of  Washington’s  military  family,  sharing  with 
that  incomparable  man  his  board,  and  bed,  and  blanket,  La  Fayette 
won  his  first  and  greatest  distinction  in  receiving  from  the  American 
chief  a  friendship  which  was  closer  than  that  bestowed  upon  any 
other  of  his  compatriots,  and  which  ended  only  in  death.  The  great 
commander  saw  in  the  reckless  daring  with  which  he  carried  his 
wound  to  rally  the  flying  troops  at  Brandywine,  the  steady  nerve 
with  which  he  held  the  column  wavering  under  a  faithless  general 
at  Monmouth,  the  wisdom  and  caution  with  which  he  manoeuvred 
inferior  forces  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  his  willingness  to  share  every 
privation  of  the  illy-clad  and  starving  soldiery,  and  to  pledge  his 
fortune  and  credit  to  relieve  their  privations,  a  commander  upon 
whom  he  could  rely,  a  patriot  he  could  trust,  a  man  he  could  love. 

“  La  Fayette’s  farewell  to  Congress  was  a  trumpet  blast  which  re¬ 
sounded  -round  a  world  then  bound  in  the  chains  of  despotism  and 
caste.  Every  government  on  the  Continent  was  an  absolute  mon¬ 
archy,  and  no  language  can  describe  the  poverty  and  wretchedness 
of  the  people.  Taxes  levied  without  law  exhausted  their  property; 
they  were  arrested  without  warrant,  and  rotted  in  the  Bastile  without 
trial,  and  they  were  shot  as  game,  and  tortured  without  redress,  at 
the  caprice  or  pleasure  of  their  feudal  lords.  Into  court  and  camp 
this  message  came  like  the  hand-writing  on  the  wall  at  Belshaz¬ 
zar’s  feast.  Hear  his  words:  ‘  May  this  immense  temple  of  freedom 
ever  stand  a  lesson  to  oppressors,  an  example  to  the  oppressed,  a 
sanctuary  for  the  rights  of  mankind,  and  may  these  happy  United 
States  attain  that  complete  splendor  and  prosperity  which  will  illus¬ 
trate  the  blessings  of  their  government,  and  for  ages  to  come  rejoice 
the  departed  souls  of  its  founders.’  Well  might  Louis  XVI,  more 


24 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


far-sighted  than  his  ministers,  exclaim:  ‘After  fourteen  hundred 
years  of  power  the  old  monarchy  is  doomed.  ’  ’  ’ 

Let  us  recall  a  few  of  the  eloquent  words  of  the  young  Marquis  de 
La  Fayette,  regarding  his  chivalrous  espousal  of  the  cause  of  the 
struggling  republic,  that  we  may  make  more  manifest  the  debt  which 
America  owes  to  the  heroic  wife  of  this  Knight  of  Liberty.  Writ¬ 
ing  to  Mr.  Laurens,  then  President  of  Congress,  La  Fayette  says: 
“  From  the  moment  that  I  first  heard  the  name  of  America,  I  loved 
her;  from  the  moment  that  I  learned  her  struggles  for  liberty,  I  was 
inflamed  with  the  desire  of  shedding  my  blood  in  her  cause,  and  the 
moments  that  may  be  expended  in  her  service,  whenever  they  may 
occur,  or  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  I  may  be,  shall  be  considered 
as  the  happiest  of  my  existence.” 

La  Fayette  was  not  only  the  Knight  of  Liberty  in  two  worlds  and 
in  two  centuries,  but  was  also  the  champion  of  law  and  order.  Other 
men  have  fought  for  freedom,  but  few  men  in  history  have  so  truly 
and  broadly  comprehended  the  indissoluble  tie  which  must  ever  bind 
liberty  to  law,  if  the  shackles  of  oppression  be  unloosed,  and  the 
equal  rights  of  men  become  the  watchwords  of  national  peace  and 
prosperity. 

And  La  Fayette’s  aid  to  America  was  largely  due  to  the  character 
and  heroism  of  his  wife.  A  more  selfish  and  narrow-minded  woman 
would  have  seriously  hampered  his  philanthropic  efforts,  and  might 
indeed  have  completely  defeated  them.  Study  the  history  of  those 
times,  and  then  try  to  answer  the  question,  what  would  have  been 
the  result  of  the  American  Revolution  without  the  aid  of  La 
Fayette  ? 

To  the  discouraged  American  commissioners  in  Paris,  La  Fayette 
made  this  noble  reply: 

‘‘I  thank  you  for  your  frankness,  but  now  is  precisely  the  moment 
to  serve  your  cause;  the  more  people  are  discouraged,  the  greater 
utility  will  result  from  my  departure.  Until  now  you  have  only 
seen  my  ardor  in  your  cause,  but  that  may  not  prove  at  present 
wholly  useless.  If  you  cannot  furnish  me  with  a  vessel,  I  will  pur¬ 
chase  one  and  freight  it  at  my  own  expense,  to  convey  your  des¬ 
patches  and  my  person  to  the  shores  of  America.”  And  his  young 
wife  not  yet  eighteen,  restrained  her  tears,  lest  he  should  be  blamed. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


25 


and  bravely  determined  to  bear  the  parting  uncomplainingly.  Such 
a  heroine  as  she  afterwards  proved  herself  to  be,  made  her  a  truly 
worthy  companion  for  her  hero  husband. 

In  the  life  of  Madame  de  La  Fayette,  written  by  her  daughter, 
Madame  de  Lasteyrie,  this  touching  account  is  given  of  La  Fayette’s 
wife  at  this  time: 

“In  the  month  of  April,  1777 ,  my  father  carried  out  his  plan  of 
going  to  America.  It  is  easy  to  judge  of  my  mother’s  grief  on  re¬ 
ceiving  tidings  so  new,  so  unexpected,  and  so  terrible.  In  addition 
to  all  she  was  herself  suffering;  she  had  the  pain  of  witnessing  my 
grandfather’s  anger.  ‘  The  French  ladies,’  Lord  Stomont,  the  En¬ 
glish  ambassador,  wrote  to  his  government,  ‘  blame  M.  de  La 
Fayette’s  family,  for  having  tried  to  stop  him  in  so  noble  an  enter¬ 
prise.  If  the  Due  d’  Ayen,’  one  of  them  said,  ‘  crosses  such  a  son- 
in-law  in  such  an  attempt,  he  must  not  hope  to  find  husbands  for 
his  other  daughters.’ 

“My  mother  felt  that  the  more  she  excited  pity,  the  more  my 
father  would  be  censured.  All  her  endeavors  were  then  to  conceal 
the  tortures  of  her  heart,  preferring  to  be  thought  childish  or  indiffer¬ 
ent,  to  bringing  down  greater  blame  on  his  behavior.’’ 

La  Fayette  had  been  obliged,  on  account  of  French  and  English 
spies,  to  keep  his  sudden  departure  for  America  a  secret  even  from 
his  family,  lest  he  should  be  forbidden  by  Louis  XVI  to  openly 
avow  any  alliance  with  America;  for  at  this  time,  the  recent  reverses 
in  America  influenced  King  Louis  to  distrust  the  expediency  of  an 
open  alliance.  Sovereign  displeasure,  La  Fayette  was  well  aware 
meant  liability  to  the  confiscation  of  all  his  property,  and  public  dis¬ 
grace.  But  he  determined  to  brave  all  hazards,  and  relying  upon 
the  devotion  of  his  young  wife,  which  never  failed  him ;  he  embarked 
in  his  gallant  ship,  Victory ,  purchased  and  equipped  from  his  own 
private  purse,  and  sailed  towards  the  land  of  liberty. 

And  how  did  his  young  wife  bear  this  seeming  desertion  ?  Madame 
de  La  Fayette  herself  thus  writes  : 

“  M.  de  La  Fayette  executed  in  April  the  scheme  he  had  been 
forming  for  six  months  past  of  going  to  serve  the  cause  of  indepen¬ 
dence  in  America.  I  loved  him  tenderly.  On  hearing  the  news  of 
his  departure,  my  father  and  all  the  family  fell  into  a  state  of  violent 


26 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


anger.  My  mother  dreading  these  emotions  for  me,  on  account  of 
the  state  of  my  health,  alarmed  at  the  dangers  her  dearly  beloved 
son  had  gone  to  seek  so  far,  having  herself  less  than  anybody  in  the 
world,  the  thirst  of  ambition  and  of  worldly  glory  or  a  taste  for  en¬ 
terprise,  appreciated,  nevertheless,  M.  de  La  Fayette’s  conduct  as  it 
was  appreciated  two  years  later  by  the  rest  of  the  world.  Totally 
casting  aside  all  care  with  regard  to  the  immense  expense  of  such  an 
enterprise,  she  found,  from  the  first  moment,  in  the  manner  in  which 
it  had  been  prepared,  a  motive  for  distinguishing  it  from  what  is 
termed  une  folie  de  jeune  homme.  His  sorrow  on  leaving  his  wife 
and  those  who  were  dear  to  him,  convinced  her  that  she  need  not 
fear  for  the  happiness  of  my  life,  save  in  proportion  to  her  fears  for 
his.  It  was  she  who  gave  me  the  cruel  news  of  his  departure,  and 
with  that  tenderness  which  was  peculiar  to  her,  she  tried  to  comfort 
me  by  finding  the  means  of  serving  M.  de  La  Fayette.” 

La  Fayette  thus  writes  to  his  wife,  during  his  first  wearisome 
voyage  to  America,  while  tempest-tossed  on  board  the  Victory: 
“  How  many  fears  and  anxieties  enhance  the  keen  anguish  I  feel  at 
being  separated  from  all  that  I  love  most  fondly  in  the  world!  How 
have  you  borne  my  departure  ?  Have  you  loved  me  less  ?  Have 
you  pardoned  me  ?  I  hope  that  for  my  sake  you  will  become  a  good 
American,  for  that  feeling  is  worthy  of  every  noble  heart.  The 
happiness  of  America  is  intimately  connected  with  the  happiness  of 
all  mankind.  She  will  become  the  safe  and  respected  asylum  of 
virtue,  integrity,  toleration,  equality,  and  tranquil  happiness.” 

Again  La  Fayette  writes  to  his  wife  after  the  Battle  of  Brandywine, 
while  he  lies  wounded  at  Bethlehem,  and  Congress  has  been  forced 
to  adjourn  to  Bristol,  as  Philadelphia  was  thought  to  be  in  danger. 

“  As  General  Howe  is  giving  rather  pompous  details  of  his  Amer¬ 
ican  exploits  to  the  king,  his  master,  if  he  should  write  that  I  am 
wounded,  he  may  write  also  that  I  am  killed,  which  would  not  cost 
him  anything  ;  but  I  hope  that  my  friends,  and  you  especially,  my 
dearest  love,  will  not  give  faith  to  the  reports  of  those  persons  who 
last  year  dared  to  publish  that  General  Washington  and  all  the  gen¬ 
eral  officers  of  his  army,  being  in  a  boat  together,  had  been  upset,  and 
every  individual  drowned.  I  must  now  give  you  your  lesson  as  the 
wife  of  an  American  general  officer.  They  will  say  to  you  :  ‘  They 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


27 


have  been  beaten  ;  ’  you  must  answer:  ‘  That  is  true  ;  but  when  two 
armies  of  equal  number  meet  in  the  field,  old  soldiers  have  naturally 
the  advantage  over  new  ones  ;  they  have  besides  had  the  pleasure  of 
killing  a  great  many  of  the  enemy,  many  more  than  they  have  lost  ! 
They  will  afterwards  add,  ‘  All  this  is  very  well ;  but  Philadelphia  is 
taken,  the  capital  of  America,  the  rampart  of  liberty  !  ’  You  must  po¬ 
litely  answer:  ‘  You  are  all  great  fools  !  Philadelphia  is  a  poor,  for¬ 
lorn  town,  exposed  on  every  side,  the  harbor  of  which  was  already 
closed  ;  though  the  residence  of  Congress  lent  it — I  know  not  why 
— some  degree  of  celebrity.’  This  is  the  famous  city  which,  be  it 
added,  we  shall  sooner  or  later  make  them  yield  back  to  us.  If  they 
continue  to  persecute  you  with  questions,  you  may  send  them  about 
their  business  in  terms  which  the  Vicomte  de  Noailles  will  teach 
you.” 

Thus  the  brave  young  Marquis  laughed  at  his  wound,  and  made 
merry  of  the  unavoidable  misfortune  which  had  befallen  him,  still 
stanch  in  his  devotion  to  his  American  friends.  Realizing  that  the 
French  Alliance  hung  upon  Lafayette’s  enthusiastic  efforts  in  the 
French  court,  the  following  lines  from  a  letter  from  Washington  to 
the  American  Commissioners  in  Paris,  which  letter  passed  the  French 
fleet  of  deliverance  on  the  way,  will  reveal  the  almost  hopeless  condi¬ 
tion  of  affairs  in  America  at  that  critical  period  of  our  national  his¬ 
tory.  Washington  writes: 

“  If  France  delays  a  timely  and  powerful  aid  in  the  critical  posture 
of  our  affairs,  it  will  avail  us  nothing  should  she  attempt  it  hereafter. 
We  are  at  this  hour  suspended  in  the  balance.  In  a  word,  we  are  at 
the  end  of  our  tether,  and  now  or  never  deliverance  must  come.  ’  ’ 

When  treachery  and  falsehood  joined  their  crafty  hands  in  fellow¬ 
ship,  and  together  working  their  machinations,  strove  by  base  insin¬ 
uations  to  break  down  the  influence  of  Washington,  the  true-hearted 
La  Fayette  could  not  be  weakened  in  his  friendship  by  any  artful  plot, 
nor  could  his  firm  alliance  be  shaken  by  any  promises  of  rank  or 
power.  Though  La  Fayette’s  entire  life  had  been  spent  in  ease  and 
luxury,  he  repined  not  at  scanty  provisions  nor  great  privations,  but 
rather  gloried  in  his  personal  sacrifices  in  behalf  of  his  American 
comrades.  That  the  suffering  Continental  army  might  be  re-clothed, 
La  Fayette  started  a  relief  fund  from  his  private  purse,  offering  the 


28 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


American  ladies  who  were  making  donations  in  aid  of  the  ragged 
troops,  i oo  hundred  guineas  in  the  name  of  Madame  La  Fayette. 
When  in  1779  La  Fayette  returned  to  France  to  seek  aid  for  the 
struggling  Americans,  so  enthusiastic  were  his  efforts  in  behalf  of 
America,  and  such  his  perseverance,  that  the  prime  minister  of 
France  exclaimed  in  astonishment,  “  He  would  unfurnish  the  palace 
of  Versailles  to  clothe  the  American  army!”  to  which  La  Fayette- 
eagerly  responded,  “  /  would /”  So  earnest  was  his  zeal  that  heof- 
ferred  to  pledge  his  entire  fortune  in  the  cause  of  the  Republic. 

Let  Americans  answer  the  question,  what  would  have  been  the  re¬ 
sult  to  our  nation,  if  at  this  time,  the  wife  of  La  Fayette  had  asserted 
her  own  selfish,  though  perfectly  natural  claims,  in  opposition  to  the 
seemingly  hopeless  cause  of  a  despised  and  foreign  nation.  Like 
Isabella  of  Castile,  she  did  not  sail  the  seas,  nor  did  she  fight  for 
American  independence,  but  she  made  possible,  by  her  self-sacrifice,, 
the  devotion  of  the  sword  and  zeal  of  the  Knight  of  Liberty  in  the 
momentous  crisis  of  our  national  history.  Madame  La  Fayette  gives 
the  following  account  of  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution: 

“  During  the  campaign  of  Virginia,  M.  de  La  Fayette  was  unable 
to  correspond  with  us,  and  the  newspapers  described  his  situation  as 
almost  desperate.  I  succeeded  in  keeping  the  most  alarming  circum¬ 
stances  from  my  mother’s  knowledge,  as  she  had,  in  1777,  concealed 
her  fears  from  me,  but  I  could  only  spare  her  part  of  my  anxieties. 
We  received  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Yorktown,  and  of  the  cap¬ 
ture  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  of  his  army,  prepared  by  this  campaign 
of  Virginia  which  had  been  conducted  in  so  remarkable  a  manner. 
Its  happy  conclusion  is  one  of  those  wonderful  events  for  which  we 
must  be  grateful  to  Him  who  alone  gives  talent  and  success. 

“  M.  de  La  Fayette,  and  M.  de  Noailles  had  escaped,  for  this  cam¬ 
paign  at  least,  from  the  dangers  of  war.  Everybody  repeated  that 
its  glorious  termination  was  M.  de  La  Fayette’s  work  ;  he  had  pre¬ 
pared  all  in  the  midst  of  nearly  unconquerable  difficulties,  and,  what 
was  still  more  gratifying,  we  learned  that,  notwithstanding  the  en¬ 
treaties  which  had  been  made  to  him,  he  had  relinquished  the  glory 
of  terminating  all  himself,  and  had  awaited  the  arrival  of  M.  Wash¬ 
ington  and  M.  Rochambeau,  in  order  that  the  success  should  be  more 
certain,  and  should  be  obtained  at  the  cost  of  less  bloodshed.” 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


29 


The  English  had  looked  with  exultation  and  disdain  upon  their 
apparently  weak  foe,  and  Lord  Cornwallis  had  confidently  written : 
‘  ‘  The  boy  cannot  escape  me  ! ' ’  But  the  despised  ‘  ‘  Boy,  ’  ’  was  of  a 
more  heroic  and  irresistible  nature  than  the  proud  general  imagined, 
and  gave  him  a  most  perplexing  chase  in  a  sort  of  military  game  of 
“hide-and-seek,”  and  at  length  the  young  Marquis  caught  his 
boastful  foe  in  so  cunning  a  trap  that  all  the  English  hosts  could  not 
deliver  him;  and  this  same  triumphant  “  Boy,”  stood  by  and  witnessed 
his  surrender.  The  young  girl-wife  in  France  glories  most  of  all  in 
her  husband’s  relinquishment  of  personal  glory,  to  spare  bloodshed, 
and  his  unselfish  resignment  of  his  merited  place,  that  thereby  greater 
honor  should  crown  the  head  of  Washington. 

With  the  honored  names  of  the  women  of  our  American  Revolu¬ 
tion,  let  us  write  the  name  of  Madame  La  Fayette,  and  let  their  shin¬ 
ing  memories  be  entwined  together,  as  we  render  the  homage  of 
grateful  recollection.  As  the  names  of  Washington  and  La  Fay¬ 
ette,  THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY,  and  THE  KNIGHT 
OF  LIBERTY,  shall  forever  shine  side  by  side  in  the  Temple  of 
Freedom,  which  their  united  efforts  founded  upon  the  soil  of  our  Re¬ 
public;  so  indissolubly  united  with  the  memories  of  the  heroic  women 
of  the  American  Revolution,  must  forever  glow  the  fame  of  that  self- 
sacrificing  wife,  whose  heroism  made  possible  the  aid  and  devotion 
of  the  Knight  of  Liberty  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  American  Inde¬ 
pendence. 


CHAPTER  II. 


COLUMBUS  AT  SANTA  FE. 

BY  VIRGINIA  F.  TOWNSEND.* 


I. 

ON  the  royal  palace  at  Santa  Fd, 

Waved  Castile  and  Aragon’s  flags  that  day. 

And  one  dazzling  azure,  the  Spanish  sky 
Watched  the  beautiful  Vega  smiling  lie. 

The  land,  drowned  in  blossoming  roses,  still 
With  joy  of  the  conquest  was  all  athrill. 

The  silver  cross  on  Alhambra’s  height 

Held  the  Crescent’s  place  in  the  dawn’s  red  light. 

Through  old  mosques — a  glory  of  gems  and  gold — 
Te  Deiun  its  thunderous  triumph  rolled. 

And  Grenada  heard  in  her  stately  halls 
How  softly  at  twilight  the  vesper  calls. 

For  with  well  nigh  eight  hundred  years,  the  reign 
Of  the  Moslem  was  ended  in  Christian  Spain. 


ii. 

Half  camp  and  half  city,  Santa  F6 

Watched  the  towers  of  Grenada  loom  far  and  gray. 

The  Presence  Chamber  was  all  ablaze 
With  treasures  and  splendors  of  ancient  days. 

The  walls  in  a  gorgeous  bloom  were  hung 
Where  the  priceless  Eastern  tapestries  swung; 


'Author  of  “  Mostly  Marjorie  Day,”  etc. 


I 

WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 

For  in  flush  of  triumph — in  pomp  and  power, 

Met  proudest  court  of  the  world  that  hour. 

The  sovereigns  sat  where  the  rich  dais  shone 
Side  by  side  stood  Castile  and  Aragon’s  throne. 

The  canopy’s  cloth-of-gold  was  spread 
A  glittering  roof — o’er  each  royal  head. 

There  was  Ferdinand’s  handsome,  subtle  face, 
There  was  Isabel’s  beauty — her  queenly  grace: 

While  below  them,  the  columned  vista  long 
Held  flower  of  the  court — a  splendid  throng: 

There  stood  haughty  nobles  whose  feudal  state 
In  palace  and  castle  with  King  could  mate. 

There,  scarred  old  warriors  whose  life-work  done 
The  Moors’  fair  kingdom  for  Spain  had  won. 

There,  mitred  prelate  and  ancient  sage, 

And  silken  courtier,  and  slender  page: 

With  women  whose  witching  smile  and  glance 
Round  that  elder  time  weave  a  gay  romance: 

While  glitter  of  armor  and  toss  of  plume, 

And  rustle  of  robe,  filled  the  audience  room. 

For  if  ever  the  matin-song  should  swell 
Through  the  mosques  of  the  vanquished  infidel, 

Then — the  sovereigns  had  given  their  royal  word — 
At  the  court  should  the  Genoese  be  heard. 

iii. 

He  stood  there,  a  stranger,  apart — alone, 

His  hour  struck  at  last— stood  before  the  throne: 

With  head  in  the  Presence  he  lifted,  white, 

As  the  sea’s  wild  surf  in  the  cold  moonlight. 

A  tall,  grave  man,  with  strong  sculptured  face, 
Whose  long  lines  hinted  an  alien  race: 


32 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Vigorous — erect — it  still  was  plain 
The  prime  of  manhood  was  on  the  wane: 

Though  a  dauntless  soul  through  deep  eyes  gra 
Shot  swift  the  fire  of  his  life’s  young  May. 

He  bore  no  title — no  name  to  grace 
The  suit  he  brought  to  the  audience-place. 

In  the  crowded  palace  at  Santa  Fb 
He  of  Genoa,  poorest  stood  that  day. 

And  there,  half  scornful  and  half  amazed, 

On  the  stately  stranger  the  courtiers  gazed: 

For  he  seemed — in  their  midst  apart — to  see 
Some  glory  which  dimmed  all  that  pageantry. 


IV. 

In  the  audience-chamber  at  Santa  Fb  J 

Columbus  of  Genoa  was  heard  that  day. 

He  stood  with  a  calm  and  noble  mien, 

In  the  august  presence  of  King  and  Queen. 

But  his  words  at  first  to  his  hearers  seemed, 

The  wildest  tale  ever  madman  dreamed. 

For  he  told  of  far  lands  which  lay  in  waste, 

Of  desert  seas  that  no  bark  had  traced: 

And  he  talked  of  a  long,  mysterious  quest 
For  empires  which  rose  in  an  unknown  West, 

Till  the  courtiers  thought  as  they  smiled  apart, 

It  were  saner  for  lands  in  the  moon  to  start. 

But  there  of  a  sudden,  a  change  befell, 

As  though  in  the  air  had  been  wrought  a  spell. 

They  listened  on  all  sides — they  tried  to  reach 
The  meanings  half  masked  by  the  broken  speech 

Of  the  foreign  tongue,  for  while  he  spoke, 

As  from  ancient  darkness,  a  new  world  broke. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


They  saw  its  vast  forests,  its  hill-slopes  green, 

Its  valleys  that  nested  and  laughed  between — 

Saw  the  sweep  of  great  plains,  and  the  mountains  rise 
Till  they  shouldered  their  granite  against  the  skies. 

And  amid  all  the  wildness — the  savage  gloom, 

Broke  the  seas  of  that  New  World’s  wonderful  bloom. 

And  fair  dawns  reddened  the  far  skies  o’er, 

And  winds  loitered  happy  about  the  shore: 

While  great  cities  girdled  with  massive  walls, 

And  proud  with  temples,  palaces,  halls, 

Gleamed  through  the  talk  which  held  that  day 
The  crowd  in  the  court-room  at  Santa  FA 


v. 

Across  from  centuries  dim  and  gray 
We  gaze  on  that  famous  scene  to-day: 

And  we  wonder  still,  the  New  World’s  fate 
On  a  woman’s  breath  that  hour  should  wait. 

For  startled,  intent,  her  fair  proud  face 
The  Queen  leaned  toward  the  audience-place. 

A  light  grew  slow  in  her  grave,  sweet  eyes — 

Half  a  new  hope’s  dawn — half  an  awed  surprise: 

Would  her  instinct  mount  to  that  moment’s  height, 
To  its  challenge — its  grandeur  infinite  ? 

As  that  great  historic  hour  moved  past, 

Did  it  grow  illumed  by  a  vision  vast: — 

A  vision  where  future  ages  shone 
Where  she  sat  in  her  glory,  apart,  alone:— 

A  glory,  while  centuries  come  and  go, 

No  Queen— no  woman,  again  would  know  ? 


34 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


VI. 

The  hour  at  foot  of  the  throne  had  passed, 

The  Genoese’  suit  had  been  heard  at  last. 

In  breathless  stillness  all  watched  the  Queen 
As  her  slow  glance  swept  o’er  the  splendid  scene: 

\ 

For  the  light  on  her  face  was  shed  by  no  crown, 

As  she  looked  that  day  from  the  dais  down. 

When  a  voice  like  sweet  bells  on  the  silence  broke, 
Isabel  of  Castile  from  her  throne  outspoke: 

“  Columbus  of  Genoa  !  in  wondrous  way, 

At  Court  of  the  Spains  hast  thou  told  to-day 

“  Thy  faith  in  a  far  world  lying  where 
Dim  mysterious  seas  hold  it  lone  and  fair: 

“And  my  soul  by  thy  suit  is  strangely  thrilled, 

As  though  with  God’s  summons  the  air  were  filled. 

“To  that  rapture  of  hope  which  illumed  thy  speech, 
To  thy  height — to  thy  daring — we  may  not  reach: 

“We — gathered  here  in  our  proud  array, 

Where  the  Mussulman  reigned  but  yesterday: 

“  While  over  white  solitudes  of  seas, 

Still  that  New  World  draws  thee,  oh,  Genoese ! 

“  By  my  crown  of  Castile,  this  hour  I  swear 
Thou  shalt  go  and  see  if  the  land  be  there! 

“With  Moslem  wars  are  Spain’s  coffers  low? 

Is  her  treasury  drained  ?  Still  the  ships  shall  go  ! 

“  Shall  a  Queen  break  oath — nor  find  a  way 
The  pledge  to  keep  and  the  price  to  pay? 

“  The  royal  caskets  hold  glittering  store 
Of  jewels  the  dead  Queens  proudly  wore — 

“  Diamonds,  through  long  years  hoarded  there; 
Coronal — necklace,  and  solitaire; 


WHA  T  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


35 


“The  collar  of  rubies—the  pearls  of  price— 

Emeralds  which  sparkle  in  quaint  device 

“  Of  brooch  and  of  armlet,  rare  and  old; 

Great  opals  enwreathed  with  fine- wrought  gold: 

“And  sapphire  and  topaz,  and  many  a  gem 
Which  has  blazed  in  the  royal  diadem; 

“Or  on  the  brow  of  fair  princess  shone, 

Like  the  evening  star,  with  a  luster  lone; — 

“Jewels  I  brought,  when  Castile’s  young  bride, 

Oh,  King  of  the  Spains,  I  came  to  thy  side! 

J  “  Heirlooms  of  Trastamara’s  crown — 

My  birthright— -my  dowry — I  here  lay  down: 

“  And  possessed  by  the  royal  oath,  of  these, 

Go  thou  from  the  Presence,  oh,  Genoese! 

“And  gather  thy  caravels,  stanch,  though  few, 

And  man  thy  barks  with  a  gallant  crew: 

“At  thy  masthead  the  standard  of  Castile  fly, 

And  over  all  else  see  the  Cross  shine  high! 

“And  spread  thy  sails  to  that  unknown  West, 

And  go,  and  God  speed  thee  upon  thy  quest! 

“  And  if  ever  for  thee  that  land’s  green  line 
’Gainst  the  gray  of  those  unknown  seas  shall  shine;- 

“  If  at  anchor,  thou  hearest  some  God  crowned  day 
Birds  once  more  sing  the  song  of  thy  Genoa’s  May;— 

“  Then,  with  Cross  and  with  banner  borne  high  before, 
Shalt  thou  first  set  foot  on  that  stranger  shore; 

“And  with  solemn  rite  e’er  that  day  shall  wane, 

Claim  thou  the  New  World  for  God  and  Spain  !  ” 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  WOMEN  OF  PLYMOUTH  COLONY. 


BY  JANE  G.  AUSTIN 


HE  old  epigrammatic  suggestion  “  Cherchez  la  fe?nme!  ’  ’  that  is 


I  to  say,  if  a  man  has  committed  a  crime  look  for  the  woman  at 
whose  bidding,  or  in  whose  interests,  or  for  whose  sake  it  was  com¬ 
mitted,  is  capable  of  a  higher  application,  and  at  the  root  of  most  of 
the  grand  movements  which  have  ennobled  or  benefitted  the  world 
is  to  be  found  woman’s  influence,  woman’s  powers  and  woman’s 
co-operation. 

Had  it  not  been  for  Isabella  of  Castile  it  is  scarcely  probable  that 
Columbus  would  have  found  means  to  follow  the  track  of  the  Norse¬ 
men,  and  our  Columbian  Exposition  would  have  been  relegated  to 
that  queer  limbo  which  we  explore  when  we  consider  who  we  should 
have  been  if  our  mother  had  married  that  early  lover  of  whom  she 
speaks.  A  century  later  Queen  Elizabeth  enabled  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  to  continue  the  discovery  of  America,  and  Virginia,  Mary¬ 
land  and  Annapolis  all  perpetuate  in  their  names  the  feminine 
patronage  to  which  they  owe  their  existence;  but  in  the  settlement 
of  New  England,  in  the  occupation  of  that  severe  and  forbidding 
region,  contrasting  so  sternly  with  the  tropic  softness  of  the  Antilles 
and  the  gracious  fertility  of  the  Southern  States,  women  were  not 
content  with  giving  their  money  and  their  counsel  to  the  adventurers 
whom  they  encouraged;  they  gave  themselves,  their  hearts,  their 
hands,  their  presence  and  their  lives.  The  Plymouth  Colony  boasts 
no  patroness  either  royal  or  wealthy;  very  few  men  of  position  in 
England  gave  either  sympathy  or  money  to  the  enterprise,  and 

*  Author  of  “  Standish  of  Standish,"  “  David  Alden’s  Daughter  and  Other  Stories  of  Colon¬ 
ial  Times,”  etc. 


Mrs,  Jane  G,  Austin, 

WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


37 


absolutely  no  women  are  mentioned  in  this  connection  except  those 
more  than  royal,  more  than  noble  women  who  came  with  their 
husbands  and  fathers  to  brave  the  unknown  dangers  of  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  to  lighten  the  toil,  to  comfort  the  hardships,  and  to  encourage 
and  exalt  the  faith  in  God,  and  assurance  of  His  protection  that 
might  well  have  failed  the  hearts  of  those  men  had  they  been  unsup¬ 
ported  by  the  inspiring  if  illogical  confidence  of  woman  in  her 
religious  beliefs. 

Not  much  is  said  about  these  women  by  the  Pilgrim  historians, 
but  mention  is  made  of  some,  who,  when  loathsome  sickness  broke 
out  on  board  the  Mayflower,  so  patiently  and  tenderly  nursed  the 
sailors  who  had  reviled  and  insulted  them  as  to  win  from  one  the 
remorseful  cry  that  if  his  life  were  spared  he  would  live  it  among  a 
people  whose  religion  could  lead  them  so  to  forgive  and  serve  their 
enemies.  A  little  later,  mention  is  made  of  the  women  and  children 
planting  corn  and  toiling  cheerfully  in  the  field  along  with  the  men 
of  their  families;  many  died  but  others  took  their  places  with 
alacrity;  those  who  had  been  left  behind  at  first,  coming  over  so  soon 
as  opportunity  served.  Even  the  speedy  re- marriages  at  which  we 
are  inclined  to  wonder,  were  probably  actuated  more  by  a  desire  to 
mother  the  little  children,  and  to  care  for  the  desolate  widower,  than 
by  any  unseemly  levity  or  carelessness  of  the  dead.  The  same 
purity  of  motive  must  be  ascribed  to  those  women  who  came  over 
to  marry  men  who  could  not  be  spared  to  return  across  the  sea  and 
woo  them  in  their  homes,  as  for  instance,  Alice  Bradford  and 
Barbara  Standish;  most  actions  are  to  be  judged  by  their 
motives,  and  never  were  motives  higher  or  purer  than  those 
which  brought  the  Pilgrim  mothers  to  Plymouth  Rock,  mak¬ 
ing  it  possible  for  the  Pilgrim  fathers  to  remain  there,  and  the 
Pilgrim  children  to  thrive  and  mature,  becoming  the  seed  of  a 
mighty  growth. 

A  little  later,  and  a  little  outside  of  Plymouth,  but  still  in  the  Old 
Colony,  other  women  arose  whose  lives  and  works  have  made  their 
names  memorable.  One  of  these  is  Elizabeth  Poole  or  Pole  who 
has  been  called  “  The  patron  saint  of  Taunton  ”  because  it  was  to 
her  wealth,  her  labors,  her  influence  and  unceasing  efforts  that 
Taunton  owes  its  life  and  prosperity. 


3§ 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Another  Old  Colony  heroine  of  quite  another  sort  is  Deborah  Law- 
son,  who  in  1775  from  motives  of  pure  patriotism  unmixed  with  any 
mere  personal  feeling,  spun,  wove  and  made  for  herself  a  suit  of 
men’s  clothes  in  which  she  volunteered  as  a  soldier,  became  an 
admirably  trained  one  and  fought  most  valiantly  in  several  actions ; 
when  wounded  she  had  the  heroism  to  conceal  her  wound,  acting  as 
her  own  surgeon,  and  thus  evading  discovery. 

After  something  over  two  years  service  she  was  again  wounded, 
and  her  sex  being  discovered  she  received  an  honorable  discharge, 
with  the  highest  testimonials  from  her  officers  not  only  as  to  her 
courage  and  faithfulness  as  a  soldier,  but  her  discretion  and  Diana- 
like  modesty  as  a  woman.  After  this  she  married  and  became  the 
mother  of  a  son,  thus  fulfilling  her  duties  to  the  world  both  as  man 
and  woman. 

Another  Old  Colony  heroine  of  the  Revolution,  although  moving 
upon  quite  different  lines,  was  Mercy  Otis  Warren,  who  while  her 
husband,  General  James  Warren,  served  his  country  upon  the  field 
or  in  the  council  chamber,  remained  in  her  quiet  Plymouth  home, 
sustaining  and  cheering  him  by  letters,  whose  keen  insight,  shrewd 
advice  and  noble  courage  proved  invaluable  to  the  soldier  as  well  as 
to  the  husband.  Madame  Warren’s  correspondence  with  Adams 
and  other  Revolutionary  leaders  has  been  published,  and  claims  for 
her  the  title  of  the  American  Sevign6,  while  her  elaborate  history  of 
the  American  Revolution  is  a  classic  from  which  all  later  writers  have 
drawn  both  facts  and  inspiration. 

In  the  great  war  of  our  own  day  the  women  of  Plymouth  played 
a  conspicuous  part,  not  only  in  those  helpful  ways  to  which  all  our 
women  lent  themselves,  but  as  active  promoters  of  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  gnawing  with  sharp  teeth  at  the  knot  whose  solution  set 
free  the  enmeshed  eagle  whom  we  prefer  to  any  lion. 

And  to-day,  is  there  any  movement  of  philanthropy,  of  patriotism, 
of  higher  education  and  increased  privileges  for  any  class  or  any 
condition  of  mankind,  the  women  of  the  Old  Colony,  the  women  of 
Plymouth  Rock,  will  be  found  in  the  foremost  rank,  and  that  not  by 
self  assertion,  but  by  real  merit  and  proved  ability. 

Thousands  of  people  in  the  great  West  are  proud  to  speak  of 
their  New  England  origin,  and  should  be  proud  to  remember  that  if 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


39 


New  England  men  were  the  bone  and  sinew  of  their  native  section, 
New  England  women,  and  earliest  among  them  the  women  of  the 
Pilgrims,  were  the  mothers,  the  wives,  the  daughters  of  those 
men,  and  handed  on  to  their  descendants  many  of  the  noblest 
qualities  that  characterize  the  New  England  men  and  women  of 
to-day. 


1 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  LADY  ARBELLA. 


BY  LUCY  LARCOM.* 


Reprinted  here  with  the  kind  permission  of  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  and  with  the  consent 
of  Miss  Larcom. 

The  following  introduction  has  been  prepared  especially  for  this  Expo¬ 
sition  Souvenir,  by  Miss  Larcom. — Editor 


ARBELLA  JOHNSON. 


HE  purpose  with  which  a  country  is  settled,  is  that  which  lives 


1  on  in  it,  and  gives  it  a  character  for  good  or  ill,  down  through 
its  whole  history.  It  has  been  often  said,  yet  perhaps  not  too  often, 
that  the  motives  and  principles  which  inspired  the  pioneer  emigrants 
from  Old  to  New  England,  have  resulted  in  the  free,  firm  strength 
of  our  nation  to-day.  The  Puritan  women  who  accompanied  their 
families  and  friends  hither,  were  offering  themselves  as  a  sacrifice  to 
their  faith.  They  were  martyrs  as  well  as  heroines  often,  scarcely 
surviving  the  first  icy  greeting  of  winter  as  they  landed. 

The  name  of  Arbella  Johnson,  daughter  of  the  noble  House  of 
Lincoln,  and  wife  of  Isaac  Johnson,  of  Winthrop’s  company,  haunts 
the  north  shore  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  with  a  romantic  interest,  such 
as  the  sturdy  Puritan  seldom  left  in  his  track. 

The  fatigues  of  the  long  voyage,  and  the  hardships  of  pioneering, 
proved  too  great  for  one  so  delicately  reared.  The  Lady  Arbella 
and  her  husband  both  died  in  the  autumn  of  1630,  the  year  of  their 
arrival. 

The  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  King’s  Chapel,  in  Boston,  is 

*  Author  of  "  The  Unseen  Friend,”  “  Wild  Roses  of  Cape  Ann,”  "Songs  of  Faith,”  "As  it 
is  in  Heaven,”  “A  New  England  Girlhood,”  etc. 


Miss  Lucy  Larcom, 


4 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


4t 

said  to  have  been  originally  purchased  by  Mr.  Johnson  for  a  home¬ 
stead,  when  the  colonists  removed  thither  from  Salem. 

We  can  picture  what  it  might  have  been  to  New  England,  had 
the  Lady  Arbella  lived  to  leave  behind  her  descendants  as  earnest  in 
their  heroism  as  herself  and  her  husband;  but  the  spiritual  influence 
that  piety  and  courage  such  as  her’s  infused  into  the  new  colony, 
and  thence  over  the  whole  country,  is  a  larger,  an  inalienable  inher¬ 
itance.  America  is  forever  a  debtor  to  Puritan  womanhood. 

The  good  ship  Arbella  is  leading  the  fleet 

Away  to  the  westward,  through  rain-storm  and  sleet; 

The  white  cliffs  of  England  have  dropped  out  of  sight, 

As  birds  from  the  warmth  of  their  nest  taking  flight 
Into  wider  horizons,  each  fluttering  sail 
Follows  fast  where  the  Mayflower  fled  on  the  gale 
With  her  resolute  Pilgrims,  ten  winters  before, — 

And  the  fire  of  their  faith  lights  the  sea  and  the  shore. 

There  are  yeomen  and  statesmen;  the  learned  and  the  rude, 

One  brotherhood;  jealousy  cannot  intrude 
Between  heart  and  heart;  with  one  purpose  they  go, — 

To  knit  life  to  life,  a  new  nation,  and  grow 

In  the  strength  of  the  Lord.  There  are  maidens  discreet, 

And  saintliest  matrons;  but  none  is  so  sweet 
As  the  delicate  blush-rose  from  Lincoln’s  old  hall, 

The  Lady  Arbella,  the  flower  of  them  all. 

Beloved  and  loving,  one  stands  at  her  side, 

A  bridegroom  well  matched  with  so  lovely  a  bride; 

Wise  Winthrop  is  balancing  care  in  his  mind 
For  the  colony’s  weal,  for  the  wife  left  behind; 

And  godly  and  tolerant  Phillips  is  there, 

To  comfort  his  shipmates  with  blessing  and  prayer; 

One  and  all,  they  have  taken  their  lives  in  their  hand 
To  be  scattered  as  seed  in  a  wilderness  land. 

There  is  hope  in  their  eyes,  though  it  gleams  through  regret. 

They  go  not  as  those  who  can  lightly  forget 

The  church,  their  dear  mother, — the  land  of  their  birth, 

In  the  glamour  that  flushes  an  unexplored  earth, — 

A  limitless  continent,  fringing  the  rim 
Of  the  silent  sea  vastness  with  promises  dim; 

And  their  love,  reaching  back  from  the  voyage  begun, 

Links  Old  and  New  England  forever  as  one. 


42 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


They  drift  through  blank  midnight;  they  toss  in  the  mist, 
Blown  hither  and  thither  as  wild  winds  may  list; 

Moons  wane,  ere  a  glimpse  of  the  land  that  they  seek 
Breaks  the  chaos  of  billow  and  fog;  though  the  cheek 
Of  Arbella  grows  pale,  with  a  clear,  kindling  eye, 

She  says,  “It  is  well  that  we  go,  though  we  die.” 

And  the  heart  of  the  bridegroom  beats  high  at  her  side, 

In  response  to  the  undismayed  heart  of  his  bride. 

And  still,  side  by  side,  they  keep  watch  on  the  deck, 

Till  the  faint  shore  approaches, — an  outline, — a  speck 
That  wavers  and  sinks,  and  arises  again, 

Undefined,  on  the  outermost  verge  of  the  main. 

And  lo!  on  a  golden  June  morning,  a  smell 
As  of  blossoming  gardens,  borne  over  the  swell 
Of  the  weltering  brine;  cliff  and  headland  that  dip 
Their  green  robes  in  the  sea,  leaning  out  to  the  ship! 

And  shining  above  them,  afar  on  the  sky 

Where  the  coast-line  trends  inland,  the  snow-summits  high, 

A  glimmer  of  crystal!  The  lady’s  rapt  gaze 

Lingers  long  on  that  wonder  of  filmy  white  haze, 

As  a  vision  of  mountains  celestial,  that  rise 
On  the  soul  of  the  dying,  who  nears  Paradise. 

Did  she  know,  could  she  dream,  that  to  her  it  was  given 
But  to  touch  at  this  new  world,  and  pass  on  to  Heaven  ? 

There  looms  Agamenticus;  beckons  Cape  Ann; 

There  a  smoke-wreath  reveals  Masconomo’s  red  clan, 

Or  the  camp-fire  of  settlers;  and  here  a  canoe, 

Here  a  shallop  steers  out  to  the  storm-beaten  crew. 

The  low  islands  part,  as  an  opening  door, 

And  they  glide  in,  and  anchor  in  sight  of  the  shore, 

Where  the  wild  roses’  fragrance,  the  strawberries’  scent, 
With  the  music  of  song-bird  and  billow  is  blent. 

Did  the  Lady  Arbella’s  light  foot  touch  the  beach  ? 

Did  the  sweet-brier  sway  to  her  laugh  and  her  speech  ? 
Waves  wash  away  foot-prints;  winds  sweep  from  the  air 
Glad  echoes,  fresh  odors; — her  memory  is  there: 

And  the  wild  rose  is  sweeter  on  Bass-River-Side 

For  breathing  where  once  breathed  the  sweet  English  bride; 

And  the  moan  of  the  surges  a  pathos  has  caught 

From  her  presence  there,  brief  as  the  flight  of  a  thought. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


43 


Grave  Endicott  welcomes  his  beautiful  guest: 

At  last  in  the  wilderness  shall  she  find  rest, 

And  dream  of  the  cities  to  rise  at  her  feet 

In  a  nation  where  mercy  and  righteousness  meet  ? 

Dear  Lady  Arbella!  so  brave  and  so  meek! 

Too  fragile  a  flower  for  this  atmosphere  bleak, — 

When  the  rose  shed  its  petals  on  Bass- River-Side, 

The  blush-rose  of  Lincoln  had  faded  and  died. 

But  a  soul  cannot  fail  of  its  gracious  intent; 

We  are  known,  and  we  live,  through  the  good  that  we  meant. 
The  seed  will  spring  up,  that  was  watered  with  tears; 

If  an  angel  looked  on,  through  those  first  dreary  years 
Of  the  colony’s  childhood,  and  bore  up  its  prayer, 

The  spirit  of  Lady  Arbella  was  there; 

And  to  whatever  Eden  her  footsteps  have  flown, 

New  England  still  claims  her, — forever  our  own! 

For  the  lady  arose  in  her  womanhood  then, 

When  gentry  and  yeomanry  simply  were  men 
In  communion  of  hardship.  All  honor  be  theirs 
Whose  names  on  her  forehead  the  Commonwealth  wears, — 
Who  planted  the  roots  of  our  freedom!  Nor  yet 
The  blossoms  that  died  in  transplanting  forget, 

The  true-hearted  women  who  perished  beside 
The  Lady  Arbella,  the  fair  English  bride! 


CHAPTER  V. 


PURITAN  WOMANHOOD;  A  POWER 
IN  AMERICA. 

BY  MISS  L.  T.  GUILFORD.* 

THE  blended  portraits  of  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  have  long  hung  in 
the  world’s  gallery.  Rigid  in  attitude,  narrow  in  forehead,  sour 
in  aspect,  both  were  distorted  by  caricature  and  blackened  by  anti¬ 
pathy.  The  more  tolerant  Separatist,  weak  in  numbers,  who  held  alone 
for  ten  years,  in  his  rocky  bay,  mankind’s  outermost  fort  of  Freedom, 
was  equally  contemned  with  his  spiritual  brother,  the  stronger  Puri¬ 
tan,  who,  abhorred  of  royalist,  churchman  and  worldling,  colonized 
Salem  and  Boston.  At  intervals,  the  pictures  were  retouched — a  line 
being  softened  here  and  there — till  after  200  years  the  giant  hand  of 
Destiny  took  the  brush  and  wrote,  in  letters  read  of  earth  and  heaven, 

THE  FOUNDERS  OF  A  FREE  AND  MIGHTY  NATION. 

Meanwhile  the  woman,  Pilgrim  or  Puritan,  who  walked  meekly  by 
the  side  of  her  husband  in  exile,  rearing  his  children,  sharing  loss  and 
contumely  for  his  sake,  had  been  seldom  touched  by  the  pen  of  the 
profane.  For  any  description  of  her,  satiric  or  otherwise,  we  may 
search  almost  in  vain  among  the  great  writers  of  the  16th  and  17th 
centuries.  Not  till  fifty  years  after  the  Mayflower  had  sailed  did  the 
dreamer  of  Bedford  jail  set  before  all  eyes  the  Puritan  type  of  woman¬ 
hood  in  Christiana  and  Mercy  on  their  way  to  the  Celestial  City — a 
being  strong  of  purpose,  yet  to  be  shielded  and  guided,  for  Bunyan 
was  careful  to  put  her  under  the  protection  of  Great  Heart  all  the 
way  with  Valiant  to  help  at  the  end. 

In  reality,  these  wives  and  mothers  time  after  time  had  seen  the 


Author  of  “  The  Use  of  a  Life,”  “  The  Story  of  a  Cleveland  School,”  etc. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


45 


father  haled  away  to  prison — a  deadly  sink-hole— there  to  suffer 
with  hunger  and  thirst  and  pestilent  air,  sometimes  to  be  released 
after  months,  sometimes  to  be  carried  out  dead,  sometimes  taken  to 
be  hanged  on  the  gallows.  Plundered  of  all  she  possessed  she  was 
turned  out  penniless  to  beg  or  to  starve.  These  wrongs,  submitted 
to  without  remonstrance  or  outcry,  burnt  into  her  soul  that  love  of 
liberty  which  she  has  stamped  upon  her  offspring  to  the  latest  gener¬ 
ation.  Could  there  have  been  among  the  mothers  of  New  Plymouth 
or  Massachusetts  Bay  a  Mrs.  Know-nothing  or  a  Mrs.  Light-mind  ? 
Scant  individual  history  of  those  women  who  were  tossed  for  two 
months  in  crowded  ships  on  the  wintry  Atlantic  has  been  preserved. 
But  a  brief  line  is  given  to  the  first  costly  victim  extorted  by  the  Furies 
of  the  Coast.  “  Mrs.  Wm.  Bradford  fell  overboard  and  was  drowned.” 
This  reticence  regarding  their  own  experience  has  clung  to  them 
always.  They  endured  cold,  want,  sickness,  terror  of  the  unknown, 
the  approach  of  death,  and  none  turned  back.  They  could  not  fore¬ 
see  the  destiny  of  this  land,  but  with  loyal  souls  they  laid  themselves 
on  its  altar  and  made  it  a  land  worth  dying  for.  How  their  descend¬ 
ants  have  inherited  their  devotion  is  known  to  all  the  world. 

There  was  an  isolation,  a  rending  of  kindred  ties  in  the  woman’s 
life,  more  and  more  inconceivable  to  us  in  these  days  of  speedy  tran¬ 
sit  and  message.  It  only  intensified  her  love  to  the  faith  for  which 
she  suffered,  and  her  profoundly  religious  nature  struck  deeper  root 
to  the  primitive  rocks  of  her  belief.  With  docile  mind  she  received 
the  weighty  instructions  of  ministers  whose  godly  walk  was  her  ex¬ 
ample — they  had  borne  the  brunt  of  persecution — she  kindled  her 
zeal  over  the  ‘‘Book  of  Martyrs,”  and  the  ‘‘Sermons  of  John 
Owen,”  she  was  comforted  by  ‘‘Baxter’s  Saint’s  Everlasting  Rest.” 
Like  the  wife  of  Abraham,  she  ‘‘obeyed  her  husband,  calling  him 
lord,”  exacting  at  the  same  time  strict  obedience  and  honor  from  her 
children.  Circumstances  developed  in  her  an  intrepidity  and  self- 
dependence  which  became  a  marked  hereditary  trait.  Often  her  pro¬ 
tector  was  called  away  on  dangerous  forest  journeys  and  coasting 
voyages,  or  to  more  dangerous  warfare  against  the  savage  foe.  She 
was  left  alone  to  plough  the  field,  to  till  the  crops,  to  barricade  the 
lonely  cabin  against  the  wolves,  to  meet  undaunted  the  visits  of  rov¬ 
ing  Indians.  Always  there  was  before  her  the  dread  of  what  came 


46 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


to  many  through  the  space  of  1 50  years — the  sight  of  her  burning 
dwelling,  her  murdered  little  ones,  the  tomahawk  or  torture  for  her 
husband,  captivity  for  herself.  Morning  and  evening,  as  she  gath¬ 
ered  her  household  for  worship,  with  what  meaning  must  have  come 
to  her  both  the  denunciations  and  the  promises  from  the  W ord  of 
God  !  Could  her  aesthetics  have  been  more  than  the  rudimentary 
bud  of  this  full  blown  product  of  1893?  Cleanliness,  Industry,  Fru¬ 
gality,  were  for  her,  the  Three  Graces,  and  beautiful  indeed  was 
that  exquisite  courtesy,  handed  down  a  precious  heir-loom  in  many 
family  lines.  We  shall  mistake  if  we  picture  these  toil-built  homes 
as  other  than  cheerful  and  beloved  spots,  gradually  gathering  com¬ 
fort  and  even  abundance  from  the  hard  soil  and  ungenial  air.  How 
soon  was  the  little  plot  of  flowers  planted  by  the  low  window,  how 
often  the  small  kitchen  and  chamber  echoed  with  melodious  song — 
the  dear  flowers  and  songs  of  the  land  they  would  see  no  more. 

There  too,  must  have  arisen  the  genuine  American  humor,  pecu¬ 
liar  as  it  is  pungent,  as  indigenous  to  the  soil  as  the  pumpkin  itself, 
and  nowhere  more  spicy  than  among  the  New  England  hills. 

If  the  Puritan  woman’s  life  was  narrow,  it  flowed  with  wonderful 
dynamic  power.  If  dress,  cards,  the  theatre,  the  ball-room  were 
shut  from  her  days,  they  were  full  to  the  brim  of  joyful  work  for  the 
family  circle  she  loved  with  all  the  intensity  of  pent-up  feeling,  for 
whom  she  daily  besought  that  they  might  all  be  gathered  among  the 
Almighty’s  elect.  If  she  looked  with  stern  eyes  upon  her  own  sex 
who  had  lapsed  from  virtue,  she  had  been  trained  in  Bible  condem¬ 
nation  of  impurity  ;  it  was  a  licentious  court  and  nobility  who  had 
driven  her  across  the  sea.  Cruel  deeds  were  done  in  New  England, 
as  in  Old,  upon  those  who  felt  themselves  called  of  God  to  go  re¬ 
peatedly  where  they  were  not  wanted.  On  the  heads  of  Puritan  not 
Pilgrim  magistrates  must  rest  that  blood,  for  Quaker  and  witch  were 
leniently  treated  in  the  Old  Colony.  Did  the  Puritan  women  con¬ 
demn  those  scourgings  and  hangings,  sympathize  with  the  sufferers, 
and  help  when  they  could?  So  thought  the  Quaker  poet,  if  “  Mar¬ 
garet  Smith’s  Diary”  is  in  evidence. 

Looking  back  to  what  they  were,  it  is  plain  those  women  of  New 
Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  Bay  left  indestructible  moulds  in  which 
have  been  formed  many  social  traits  and  conditions  of  our  country* 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


47 


Their  elevated  moral  standard,  working  like  leaven,  is  now  making 
itself  felt  as  a  power  all  over  the  land  in  various  reforms  which  are 
struggling  up  to  influence— reforms  which  their  opposers  have  aptly 
named  “puritanic.” 

The  typical  American  woman  is  to  this  day  an  industrious,  pains¬ 
taking  housekeeper.  Generations  of  Puritan  and  Pilgrim  descend¬ 
ants  have  scattered  over  the  land  myriads  of  homes  where  the  or¬ 
derly  efficiency  of  the  wife  and  mother  establishes  comfort  even  with 
straitened  means,  for  she  makes  the  most  of  what  she  has.  Thrift  is 
inborn  ;  wastefulness  is  sin.  This  trait,  so  pronounced  as  to  provoke 
the  sneers  of  those  who  spend  lavishly  the  money  others  have  earned, 
aided  vastly  in  accumulating  the  capital  which  has  made  such  amaz¬ 
ing  returns  in  the  last  half  century,  and  this,  as  well  as  future  gen¬ 
erations,  may  yet  learn  by  bitter  experience  the  value  of  our  ances¬ 
tor’ s  habits  of  economy.  Fully  the  woman  of  those  days  appreciated 
the  worth  of  learning.  At  any  sacrifice  she  would  educate  her  sons. 
Many  a  household  saw  her  toiling  early  and  late,  giving  up  her  last 
comfort  that  her  boy  might  go  to  college  ;  and  she  improved  every 
limited  advantage  for  herself.  When  the  time  of  development  had 
come,  it  was  women  of  the  Puritan  type,  Zilpah  Grant,  Mary  Lyon, 
Catherine  Beecher,  whose  eager  steps  pressed  into  the  temple  oi 
knowledge  at  the  first  small  opening,  who  thrust  wide  open  the  doors 
to  their  sisters  after  them.  “  They  wanted  to  do  more  for  God  in  the 
world.”  The  mother  who,  from  time  to  time,  knelt  with  her  chil¬ 
dren  in  a  retired  chamber,  and  laying  her  hands  on  their  heads, 
prayed  in  low  tones  that  they  might  be  honored  of  God  in  saving 
souls,  was  the  main-spring  of  the  great  missionary  and  benevolent 
movements  of  our  times. 

Not  till  the  opening  of  this  century  were  the  traditions  of  the 
“Forefathers”  embalmed  in  literature.  Since  fifty  years,  the  Puri¬ 
tan  woman  as  maiden,  wife,  sister,  daughter,  has  been  a  chief  figure 
in  many  a  historic  tale.  Under  various  conditions  one  trait  is  never 
wanting— a  sacrifice  of  self  for  conscience  sake— for  the  supposed 
happiness  of  others.  The  subject  has  allured  nearly'  every  eminent 
tale  writer  of  New  England,  from  Howells  to  Miss  Wilkins,  Cather¬ 
ine  Sedgwick,  Mrs.  Stowe,  Sarah  Orne  Jewett,  Jane  Austin,  Rose 
Terry  Cooke,  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps,  and  others  scarcely  less 


48 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


skilful  have  depicted  the  struggle  and  its  consequences.  Between 
the  Priscilla  of  Longfellow  and  the  Hester  of  Hawthorne  can  be  found 
every  form  of  self-abnegation.  Quite  often  these  wrenches  of  the 
soul  left  peculiarities  of  manner,  of  temper,  of  ways  of  life,  for  never 
was  individuality  more  marked  than  in  the  Puritan  man  or  woman. 
At  least  that  presence  banished  from  American  pages  the  ‘  ‘  foul 
fiend  ”  of  written  vice. 

Her  devotion  to  family  duty  occasioned  a  social  phase  not  yet 
gone  by.  When  the  Great  West  began  to  be  settled  by  emigra¬ 
tion  from  the  East,  the  young,  the  vigorous  manhood  and  woman¬ 
hood  were  drawn  away  to  found  new  homes  in  the  wilds,  leaving  the 
declining  in  years,  the  invalids,  the  orphaned  children  to  the  care  ol 
some  unmarried  or  widowed  daughter  or  sister.  All  over  the  older 
states  the  number  of  such  divided  families  passes  computation. 
These  quiet  heroines  taking  the  household  burdens,  bearing  them 
with  unshrinking  constancy  till  the  last  three  graves  were  made, 
side  by  side,  in  the  old  churchyard,  had  no  small  part  in  building 
the  Great  Western  Empire.  Sons,  brothers,  lovers  lost  to  them, 
were  entering  into  larger  opportunities,  transplanting  into  wide  fields 
the  industry  and  keen  common  sense,  the  unbending  integrity,  the 
religious  faith,  germinated  under  the  roof  tree  where,  from  the  lips  of 
the  mother,  they  had  learned  the  Westminster  Catechism.  Alone, 
this  household  guardian  stood  in  her  lot  strengthening  the  things  that 
remained.  Her  place  in  the  sanctuary  was  never  vacant;  from  the 
scanty  produce  of  the  farm  or  the  earnings  of  her  needle,  she  sent 
her  contribution  to  the  Societies  for  Ministerial  Education  for  Home 
and  Foreign  Missions. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  debt  owed  by  the  West  to  Puritan  woman¬ 
hood.  Every  early  New  England  institution  for  educating  women 
sent  its  pupils  as  missionary  teachers  into  the  new  and  destitute 
communities  all  over  the  country,  carrying  into  hundreds  of  ignorant 
frontier  towns  the  beginnings  of  many  great  cities;  into .  district 
schools,  into  infant  colleges  and  incipient  seminaries,  the  thorough 
elementary  discipline,  the  character  training,  the  Bible  study,  under 
which  they  had  been  formed.  A  flood  tide  of  population  swept  in, 
but  these  fortresses  set  by  woman’s  hand  have  stood  fast  in  schools 
and  churches,  mighty  strongholds  for  right  to  the  present  day. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


49 


Doubtless  that  “pitiless  New  England  conscience’’  became  some¬ 
times  morbid-~(we  are  no  longer  troubled  with  such)— doubtless 
there  was  suffering  in  many  tender  souls  over  the  inscrutable  decrees 
of  predestination,  but  they  fled  to  no  nunneries,  and  though  they 
wrestled  all  night  till  the  breaking  of  the  day,  there  was  for  them  the 
blessing  of  Peniel. 

Not  quite  yet  from  the  present  generation  has  faded  one  picture 
set  like  a  portrait  by  the  Old  Masters  in  the  background  of  child¬ 
hood’s  memories — the  image  of  some  saintly  grandmother  whose 
hands -were  never  idle,  whose  capability  put  to  shame  the  results  of 
modern  schools  and  whose  love  flowed  inexhaustible  around  old  and 
young.  Set  apart  by  a  sweet  and  courtly  dignity;  wearing  with  her 
silver  locks  the  halo  of  peace;  poring  day  by  day  over  the  familiar 
Testament  and  Psalms;  at  length  she  was  not,  for  God  took  her. 

Such  as  she,  Pilgrim  or  Puritan  blood  in  her  veins,  trained  the 
sons  and  daughters  who  largely  have  made  in  our  land  its  sacred 
homes,  its  wide-spread  education,  its  far-reaching  benevolences,  its 
Gospel  ministrations  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
REVOLUTION. 

BY  MRS.  ELROY  M.  AVERY.* 

“IT  has  begun.”  No  need  to  tell  the  eager  listeners  the  meaning 
1  of  those  words,  for  the  year  was  1775,  the  day  April  19th,  and 
the  speaker  a  messenger  from  Lexington,  ‘  *  herald  of  battle,  fate 
and  fear.” 

As  sped  the  “fiery  cross”  of  Roderick  Dhu,  so  sped  the  tidings 
of  that  pregnant  hour  from  lip  to  lip,  from  heart  to  heart,  for  in  every 
village  and  at  every  farm-yard  gate  sounded  the  “  Lexington  Alarm.” 
Ere  the  last  gun  had  been  fired  on  Concord  Green,  church  bells  in 
many  a  pleasant  town  were  calling  the  devout  to  action  as  “  the  pul¬ 
pits  below  had  been  calling  them  for  many  a  year.” 

Each  messenger  was  another  Cadmus,  “  armed  men  sprang  up  on 
every  side  as  he  sowed  his  tidings,”  and 

“From  the  grey  sire,  whose  trembling  hand 
Could  scarcely  buckle  on  his  brand, 

To  the  raw  boy,  whose  shaft  and  bow, 

Were  yet  scarce  terror  to  the  crow, 

Each  valley,  each  sequestered  glen, 

Mustered  its  little  hoard  of  men.” 

Ere  the  sun  sank  in  the  west,  “Massachusetts,  New  England, 
America  were  closing  around  the  city,  the  siege  of  Boston  and  the 
war  of  American  Independence  had  begun.” 

“  Leave  untended  the  herd, 

The  flock  without  shelter, 

Leave  the  corpse  uninterred, 

The  bride  at  the  altar,” 

was  the  spirit  of  the  times. 

*  Member  Society — “  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution.” 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


51 


But  mothers  took  up  the  hoe  that  the  fathers  laid  down,  and  the 
girls  drove  home  the  cows  that  the  boys  forsook  for  battle,  and  wives 
equipped  their  husbands  for  the  most  sublime  struggle  that  the  world 
had  ever  seen,  and  from  every  fireside  woman  sent  forth,  with  her 
blessing  and  prayer,  the  minute-man  of  the  Revolution,  “who  car¬ 
ried  a  bayonet  that  thought,  and  whose  musket  loaded  with  a  prin¬ 
ciple,  brought  down  not  a  man,  but  a  system.” 

The  women  sought  not  honors  a-field,  they  served  not  their  coun¬ 
try  in  town  meeting  or  legislative  hall,  but  they  brought  up  their 
children  to  love  honor  more  than  life,  liberty  more  than  fame,  and  to 
believe  that  the  right  will  prevail.  They  spun  not  only  wool,  but 
wisdom,  not  only  linen  fibre,  but  noble  thoughts.  With  their  great 
brown  looms,  they  wove  the  homespun  to  protect  their  sons  while 
“working  in  the  dismal  trench,  out  in  the  midnight  air,”  but  taught 
them  that  “  there  is  no  better  breast  plate  than  a  heart  untainted. 
Thrice  is  he  armed  that  hath  his  quarrel  just.” 

On  this  eventful  day,  woman  took  her  rightful  place  in  the  great 
conflict.  Remember  Captain  Miles,  “  who  went  to  battle  as  lie  went 
to  church  ” ;  remember  Isaac  Davis,  “who  making  way  for  his  coun¬ 
trymen  like  Arnold  Winkelreid  at  Sempach,”  fell  dead  at  Concord 
bridge;  remember  the  minute-men  who  “saved  civil  liberty  in  two 
hemispheres;”  but  do  not  forget  Mrs.  Barrett,  whose  wit  and  en¬ 
ergy  contributed  to  the  great  cause,  or  the  widow  Brown,  who 
counted  not  the  cost  when  her  country  called;  forget  not  Mrs. 
W ood,  or  Hannah  Burns,  or  the  other  faithful  matrons  of  Concord, 
who  at  the  outset  proved  that  “  the  women  of  New  England  are  en¬ 
titled  to  equal  reverence  with  the  men.” 

No  force  of  circumstances  could  have  made  “a  Sidney’s  sister, 
Pembroke’s  mother”  out  of  a  mere  toy,  blit  these  women  came  of 
heroic  stock,  the  blood  of  martyrs  flowed  in  their  veins,  their  moth¬ 
ers  had  borne  noble  part  in  the  old  French  and  Indian  war,  and  they 
started  up  at  the  outset  ready  armed  with  self-command  and  self- 
sacrifice 

From  Dedham,  every  man  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty 
hastened  to  the  front,  while  the  women  of  the  households,  led  by  the 
ready  and  efficient  Mrs.  Draper,  prepared  long  tables  by  the  high¬ 
way,  loaded  with  bread  and  cheese  and  cups  of  foaming  cider,  that 


52 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


the  patriot  that  marched  might  eat.  There  were  refreshed  the  min¬ 
ute-men,  who  hastened  out  of  Worcester  “  one  way  as  the  news  went 
out  the  other,  which  flying  over  the  mountains  sent  Berkshire  to 
Bunker  Hill.”  In  another  part  of  the  town,  Mrs.  Pond,  as  patriotic 
but  not  as  forehanded,  was  feeding  the  weary,  hungry  men  with  mush 
and  milk  till  her  last  grain  of  golden  dust  came  bubbling  from  the 
huge  caldron.  Surely  the  kneading  bowl  and  the  mush  kettle  fur¬ 
nished  ammunition  for  the  war  not  less  potent  than  powder  and  ball. 

When  the  commander-in-chief  called  for  gifts  of  pewter  and  lead, 
these  same  women  brought  forth  their  precious  hoard,  the  children’s 
porringers,  the  matron’s  platters  and  pans,  loved  heirlooms  and  rich 
souvenirs,  and  willing  and  determined  hands  fashioned  them  into  bul¬ 
lets.  Such  was  the  aid  rendered  by  women  in  every  town,  and 
though  history  is  silent  concerning  their  deeds,  and  their  names  are 
found  on  no  “  military  roll,”  shall  we  not  say  that  women  took  their 
full  part  in  the  siege  of  Boston. 

“  As  for  me  I  will  work  willingly  with  my  hands;  there  is  occasion 
for  all  my  industry  and  economy,”  writes  Abigail  Adams. 

1  ‘  I  should  blush  if  in  any  instance  the  w’eak  passion  of  my  sex  should 
damp  the  fortitude,  the  patriotism  and  the  manly  heroism  of  yours,” 
says  Mercy  Warren,  while  another  pens  these  earnest  words,  ‘‘I 
know  this — as  free  I  can  die  but  once;  but  as  a  slave  I  shall  not  be 
worthy  of  life.” 

High  were  the  thoughts  of  the  women  of  the  revolution,  steadfast 
their  courage,  useful  the  wor-k  of  their  hands,  and  well  were  they 
skilled  in  the  noble  “  household  arts.” 

“  Here  are  five  blankets;  what  matter  how  I  sleep,  if  the  boys  are 
only  warm;”  said  Mrs.  Parmelee,  a  Connecticut  matron,  who  five 
times  had  equipped  her  son,  the  brave  young  captain  of  a  light  horse 
troop.  When  the  great  land  owner,  the  free-handed  patroon,  Van 
Rensselaer  raised  a  company  among  his  tenants  for  the  Northern 
Army,  his  wife  gathered  the  women  around  her  and  prepared  suits  of 
thick  cloth  of  their  own  spinning,  and  finished  off  the  equipment  with 
long  thick  stockings  of  their  own  knitting.  La  Fayette,  tarrying  a 
day  in  the  gracious  household,  received  a  pair,  the  memory  of  which 
he  recalled  with  grateful  heart  to  his  aged  hostess  when  he  again  be¬ 
came  her  guest  in  1824.  In  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love,  the  women 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


53 


sold  their  trinkets,  denied  themselves  even  comforts,  plied  their 
needles  with  zeal,  and  from  the  poor  colored  mammy,  Phillis,  to  rich 
Mrs.  Reed  and  thrifty  Mrs.  Bache,  were  animated  by  one  resolve. 
Seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in  hard  money,  twenty-two 
hundred  shirts  and  other  apparel  served  to  relieve  the  desperate  and 
suffering  army.  By  such  humble,  homely  heroism  was  the  great 
cause  of  liberty  sustained. 

It  has  been  said  that  life  in  the  field,  shorn  though  it  may  be  of  home 
comforts,  1  ‘  has  its  poetry,  its  inspiration,  its  heroic  element  for  com¬ 
pensation.”  ‘‘To  do,  is  the  great  pleasure  of  life,  to  suffer  and  be 
passive  is  a  sustained  effort  of  self  denial.”  ‘‘They  also  serve,  who 
only  stand  and  wait.”  These  bloodless  contests,  these  sleepless 
nights,  these  days  of  agony  that  fall  to  woman’s  lot  when  she  sends 
forth  her  dear  ones  to  the  tragic  chance  of  war,  call  for  courage  as 
high  and  fortitude  as  great  as  that  required  for  ‘ 1  night  watches  under 
snowy  skies,  forced  marches  without  shoes,”  or  confronting  shotted 
guns  and  glistening  bayonets. 

Yet  when  occasion  called  they  could  act  the  part  of  men.  It  was 
a  Mrs.  Mott  who  brought  to  Marion  the  arrows  which  should  carry 
the  flames  to  her  own  loved  home  and  stood  by  rejoicing  in  the  ben¬ 
efit  secured  to  her  native  land  ‘  ‘  by  the  surrender  of  her  interests  to 
the  public  service.  ’  ’  Still  is  the  story  told  how  the  women  of  Peper- 
ell  and  Groton,  moved  by  a  deep  sense  of  impending  danger  and  re¬ 
sponsibility,  in  martial  array,  armed  with  guns  and  pitchforks,  kept 
the  bridge  over  the  Nashua,  fired  with  a  noble  determination  that  no 
foe  to  liberty  should  win  the  narrow  way.  When  the  Tory,  Captain 
Whiting,  bearing  dispatches  from  Canada  to  Boston,  rode  toward 
the  bridge’s  head,  the  dauntless  women  stopped  him,  and  sent  his 
treasonable  papers  to  the  committee  of  safety.  All  know  how  the 
prim,  demure  Quaker,  Lydia  Darrah,  outwitted  the  British  general 
and  saved  the  Continental  Army  at  White  Plains.  The  ready  brain 
of  Mrs.  Thomas  secured  the  ammunition  afterward  used  by  Sumpter 
at  Hanging  Rock,  while  Mrs.  Bratton  destroyed  that  confided  to  her 
care  as  the  troops  of  King  George  were  preparing  to  capture  it. 

So  runs  the  story  north  and  south.  The  woman  of  the  revolution 
“  could  make  anything,  from  her  bonnet  up  to  her  destiny,”  and  was 
ready  for  any  emergency. 


54 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


In  New  York  were  His  Majesty’s  regulars  and  abundance,  without 
the  poverty-stricken  rebel  army.  It  is  recorded  that  the  cloth  for 
many  a  military  coat  fashioned  into  a  woman’s  garment,  was  borne 
past  the  unsuspecting  British  sentinel.  Boots  a  world  too  wide  for 
delicate  feet  thus  reached  the  shoeless  patriot.  “  A  horseman’s  hel¬ 
met  has  been  concealed  under  the  well-arranged  hood,  and  epaulettes 
delivered  from  the  folds  of  a  matron’s  ample  cap.” 

As  with  heroic  courage,  woman  could  “  hold  the  fort,”  with  house¬ 
wifely  skill  throw  the  shuttle,  or  with  quick  wit  and  prudence  furnish 
the  wherewithall  to  carry  on  the  conflict,  so  her  loving  care  was  felt 
in  many  a  hospital,  and  her  tender  mercy  on  many  a  battle  field. 
‘‘  Traitor  Arnold’s  murdering  corps”  descended  on  the  fair  Connec¬ 
ticut  coast  in  1781,  and  after  the  brutal  massacre  at  Fort  Griswold, 
left  the  desperately  wounded  defenders  to  a  “  night  of  distress  and 
anguish  such  as  was  scarcely  ever  passed  by  mortal !  “  The  light  of 

morning  brought  with  it  some  ministering  angels.”  The  first  was 
Miss  Fannie  Ledyard,  niece  of  the  brave  commander,  who  brought 
chocolate  and  wine,  and  tenderly  waited  on  the  suffering.  ‘‘For 
these  kindnesses,  she  has  never  ceased  to  receive  my  most  grateful 
thanks  and  fervent  prayers  for  her  felicity,”  writes  Stephen  Hem- 
stead  in  1831.  Among  the  bravest  of  the  brave  continentals  who 
fought  at  Moore’s  Creek,  was  Col.  Slocomb,  but  his  wife  deserves 
our  equal  reverence.  ‘‘Warned  in  a  dream,”  she  rode  sixty  miles 
in  the  night,  alone,  cared  for  the  wounded  of  her  husband’s  com¬ 
mand,  and  then  rode  home  again  to  her  child  and  her  common 
household  duties.  Yet  she  was  not  an  Amazon,  but  a  gentle, 
dignified  matron,  whose  noble  bearing  inspired  a  most  profound 
respect. 

Bright  young  girls  caught  the  spirit  of  their  mothers,  and  their 
gayety  and  mirth  were  made  to  serve  the  common  cause.  When 
“  the  little  black-eyed  rebel”  knew  that  the  country  boy  who  was 
selling  apples  in  the  market  had  brought  and  had  concealed  about 
him  letters  from  the  husbands  and  the  fathers  far  away. 

“Who  were  fighting  for  the  freedom, 

That  they  meant  to  gain  or  die,” 

“  She  resolutely  walked  up  to  the  wagon,  old  and  red, 

‘  May  I  have  a  dozen  apples  for  a  kiss,’  she  boldly  said. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


55 


And  then  clinging  round  his  neck,  she  clasped  her  fingers  white  and  small, 
And  then  whispered,  ‘quick,  the  letters,  thrust  them  underneath  my  shawl.’  ” 
With  the  precious  news  she  hastened  to  seek  those  who  hungered  for  it. 

“  ‘  There  is  nothing  worth  the  doing  that  it  does  not  pay  to  try,  ’ 

Thought  the  little  black-eyed  rebel,  with  a  twinkle  in  her  eye.” 

Not  daring  to  show  openly  her  great  joy  at  the  glad  tidings  con¬ 
tained  in  the  letters,  the  irrepressible  maiden  put  her  head  up  the 
chimney  and  gave  a  great  shout  for  the  Continental  Army. 

After  the  details  by  which  the  infant  republic  was  to  be  crushed 
had  been  settled  between  Arnold  and  Andre,  the  British  officer 
found,  to  his  dismay,  that  he  was  obliged  to  remain  that  day  at  the 
house  of  one  Smith,  within  the  American  lines.  Smith  tried  to 
obtain  a  continental  uniform,  which  had  been  left  in  the  care  of  Mrs. 
Beekman,  but  was  unsuccessful  because  she  suspected  his  fidelity  to 
the  cause  of  liberty.  “It  is  possible  that  the  fate  of  our  nation  may 
here  have  been  suspended  upon  a  woman’s  judgment.” 

In  many  cases  the  foes  of  the  new  republic  were  of  the  patriot’s 
own  household.  Think  of  the  anguish  of  a  woman’s  heart  when 
prayer  for  her  country  might  involve  prayer  against  her  best  beloved. 
How  difficult  to  hope  that  the  right  might  prevail  when  it  meant 
misfortune  to  those  to  whom  her  life  was  bound  by  the  tenderest  ol 
ties.  Mrs.  Knox  parted  with  a  beloved  father  to  follow  the  fortunes 
of  her  husband  and  the  thirteen  colonies,  and  her  sacrificing  zeal 
inspired  many  a  fainting  heart.  While  the  pious  tory,  Deacon 
Stockbridge,  was  at  church,  his  wife  spent  her  Sundays  running- 
bullets  for  her  father  and  brothers,  officers  in  the  continental  army. 
“  It  is  a  good  day  to  work  for  a  good  cause.” 

We  pause  before  the  memory  of  one  noble  woman,  Mary,  the 
mother  of  Washington,  whose  principles  and  conduct  were  closely 
interwoven  with  the  destinies  of  her  son. 

“  The  inexpressive  man  whose  life  expressed  so  much.” 

To  her  we  owe  the  careful  training  in  truth,  honor  and  self-forget¬ 
fulness  which  made  him  the 

“Soldier  and  statesman,  rarest  unison,” 

with  “that  grave  strength,  so  patient  and  so  pure,”  “that  mind 
serene,  impenetrably  just.”  Truly  it  may  be  said 

“  Thou  gavest  us  a  country,  giving  him.” 


56 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


With  the  mother,  vve  associate  the  wife  of  Washington,  who 
walked  with  him  the  difficult  path  Heaven  had  opened  before  him. 
Her  presence  and  submission  to  privation  at  Valley  Forge  strength¬ 
ened  the  fortitude  of  the  army,  her  simplicity  of  dress  afforded 
an  example  to  others  and  she  held  her  place  with  equal  dignity  and 
discretion  at  the  camp  fire  or  as  “  first  lady  of  the  land.” 

The  part  taken  by  woman  in  the  Revolution  satisfies  the  heart  as 
much  as  it  rouses  the  admiration.  They  were  brave,  generous 
and  devoted  but  they  rarely  forgot  ‘  ‘  the  true  province  of  their 
sex.”  The  standard  of  behavior  was  a  heroic  one.  There  was  a 
remarkable  union  of  strength  and  softness,  courage  and  refinement, 
simplicity  and  shrewdness.  One  writes  “  We  have  heard  them  com¬ 
pared  to  the  heroines  of  antiquity.  Beside  their  virtues,  the 
vanished  glory  of  the  Spartan  mother  of  thieves  and  the  Roman 
matron  of  the  national  banditti  is  shamed  into  its  true  character. 

‘  ‘  The  Grecian  heroines  were  required  to  be  savages.  The 
mothers  of  this  Republic  were  Christians.  The  women  of  Sparta 
were  taught  to  repudiate  gentleness  and  to  be  ashamed  of  that  better 
part  to  fulfil  which  woman  was  created  man’s  help-mate.  The 
wives  and  mothers  of  our  revolutionary  patriots  had  been  nurtured 
to  cultivate  the  gentle  virtues.  The  women  of  Sparta  taught  their 
children  to  condemn  those  obligations  the  foundation  of  which  is 
doing  as  you  will  be  done  by.  The  women  of  the  revolution  had 
guided  the  infant  progress  of  these  grown  men,  for  whom  on  the 
battlefield  they  prayed  in  the  unrepining  humility  of  faith  and 
the  earnest  agony  of  trust.  In  a  word  the  women  of  Sparta  did  but 
let  young  demons  loose.  The  mothers  of  ’76  who  wept  on  the 
shoulders  of  their  sons  as  they  took  their  leave,  prayed  that  the 
leisure  of  the  camp  and  the  inevitable  evils  of  war  might  not 
unfit  them  for  the  duties  and  usefulness  of  peace.  With  Sparta, 
war  and  war  culture  was  a  business,  peace  was  an  accident.  With 
Christian  nations,  war  is  the  accident  and  Christian  mothers  strive 
that  its  brutal  teachings  may  be  guarded  against  even  while  the 
armor  is  on,  and  fully  put  away  when  the  panoply  of  war  is  laid 
aside.” 

The  feeling  that  animated  the  women  of  the  Revolution  was  a 
deeply  religious  one.  In  South  Carolina,  a  band  of  settlers  on 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


57 


their  way  to  a  fort,  was  attacked  by  Indians.  Unheeding  the 
bullets  that  fell  around  her,  one  of  the  women  went  from  man  to 
man  supplying  them  with  powder  till  the  last  was  gone;  then  kneel¬ 
ing  down  she  prayed  the  Lord  of  Hosts  to  send  his  aid.  When  the 
settlers  had  repulsed  the  savage  foe,  they  sought  their  brave 
companion,  but  she  bade  them  give  their  thanks  to  God  alone  who 
had  been  their  shield  and  buckler  and  had  directed  their  balls 
aright.  This  is  but  one  illustration  of  the  spirit  that  animated  the 
noble  mothers  of  that  day. 

The  influence  of  women  is  woven  into  the  very  fabric  of  our 
Union.  ‘  ‘  No  country  seems  to  owe  more  to  its  women  than  Amer¬ 
ica  does,  nor  to  owe  them  so  much  of  what  is  best  in  social  institu¬ 
tions  and  the  beliefs  that  govern  conduct,”  writes  Bryce,  the 
author  of  ‘‘The  American  Commonwealth.”  In  this  land,  Free¬ 
dom,  daughter  of  Time  and  Thought,  dwells  with  Knowledge. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

BY  MRS.  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT.* 

To  Mrs.  Lydia  Hoyt  Farmer: 

My  Dear  Madam — I  have  received  both  of  your  letters,  and 
have  hesitated  so  long  from  pure  shyness.  I  hardly  know  where 
or  how  to  begin  the  article  you  desire.  My  father,  Frederick 
Dent  of  Maryland,  and  my  mother,  Ellen  Wrenshall  of  Pittsburg, 
Pa.,  were  both  of  English  descent.  They  were  noble,  brave,  true 
and  loving,  giving  their  large  family  (seven  of  us)  all  the  advantages 
a  good  home  and  loving  care  could  give,  and  all  the  advantages  in 
education  and  society  that  the  times  could  afford  in  our  then  far 
western  home.  I,  the  fifth  child  have  been  wonderfully  favored  by 
circumstances,  following  as  I  did  four  great  boys,  of  course  I  was  a 
veritable  queen  in  our  household,  as  I  was  from  the  same  cause  at 
school  and  in  society,  but  here  in  society  I  owed  my  happiness  to 
the  fact  that  my  parents  were  social  favorites  in  St.  Louis. 

When  eleven  years  old  I  was  sent  to  the  then  best  school  in  St. 
Louis,  Mr.  Phillip  Mauro’s,  where  I  remained  until  my  school  days 
were  finished,  being  then  a  little  past  seventeen. 

That  winter  of  ’43  and  ’44  was  passed  with  friends  (the  O’Fal- 
lous)  in  St.  Louis,  my  kind  parents  consenting  to  this  further  sepa¬ 
ration,  thinking  it  would  be  both  beneficial  and  agreeable  to  me. 

In  February  of  1844,  I  returned  to  my  home,  White  Haven,  (the 
old  farm),  then  it  was  I  first  met  Lieutenant  Grant;  I  will  not  tell  of 
those  three  winged  months.  The  Lieutenant’s  regiment  was  ordered 
South  in  May,  before  he  left,  we,  he  and  I,  had  plighted  our  troth. 


*  In  answer  to  an  urgent  request  sent  to  Mrs.  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  that  she  would  kindly  fur¬ 
nish  a  brief  sketch  of  her  own  life,  for  this  National  Souvenir,  I  received  from  her  this  letter, 
which  embodies  the  facts  in  a  delightful  manner. — Ed. 


Mrs,  Ulysses  S,  Grant, 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


59 


It  is  needless  to  mention  what  every  one  knows,  that  Dame  Nature 
was  most  chary  of  her  gifts  to  me,  no  single  special  talent  did  she 
bestow,  and  of  personal  charms  she  was  simply  miserly.  I  can  only 
remember  my  abundance  of  soft  brown  hair,  a  fair  complexion,  and 
every  one  told  me  my  feet  and  hands  were  fairy-like. 

As  soon  as  the  army  returned  from  Mexico,  Captain  Grant  and  I 
were  married  in  .St.  Louis,  Mo.  It  was  hard  for  me  to  leave  my 
dear  ones  at  home,  but  I  soon  made  new  friends  in  the  regiment  and 
in  Detroit,  where  we  were  stationed. 

In  1852,  four  years  after  our  marriage,  Captain  Grant’s  regiment 
was  ordered  to  California,  when  I  with  my  little  son  Fred,  then  a 
little  over  two  years  old,  and  my  infant  son  Ulysses,  (bom  whilst  the 
Captain  was  en  route  to  his  destination),  returned  to  my  home  in 
Missouri,  where  I  remained  until  the  Captain  resigned  from  the  army. 

Then  there  were  four  or  five  years  spent  in  real  pleasure  farming. 
It  would  fill  a  volume  if  I  were  to  tell  of  our  varied  experiences  and 
triumphs  during  this  period.  We  had  already  removed  to  Galena, 
Ill.,  before  the  terrible  struggle  of  the  Civil  War  was  begun. 

I  was  greatly  exercised  at  this  time,  I  was  Southern  by  all  rights, 
born  and  reared  in  a  Southern  state,  and  being  a  slaveholder  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  and  a  very  pronounced  Democrat,  but  that 
came  all  right,  for  when  I  would  coaxingly  ask  the  Captain  to  be  a 
Democrat  he  would  smile  and  say,  ‘  ‘  I  cannot,  you  know  when  I  re¬ 
ceived  my  commission  at  West  Point,  I  took  a  solemn  oath  to  sup¬ 
port  the  government  and  the  administration,  and  that  is  now  Repub¬ 
lican.”  So  since  the  mountain  would  not  come  to  me,  I  went  to 
the  mountain. 

The  four  years  of  the  war  spent  mostly  in  the  field  with  General 
Grant,  the  four  years  residence  with  him  in  Washington  after  the 
war,  the  eight  happy,  happy  years  spent  with  President  Grant  at  the 
executive  mansion,  the  nearly  four  years  with  him  of  delightful,  I 
-  might  say  of  triumphal  travel.™ 

All  of  this  time,  I,  his  wife,  rested  and  was  warmed  in  the  sunlight 
of  his  loyal  love,  and  glorious  fame,  and  now,  even  though  his  beau¬ 
tiful  life  has  gone  out,  it  is  as  when  some  far  off  planet  disappears 
from  the  heavens,  the  light  of  his  great  fame  still  falls  upon  and 

Julia  Dent  Grant. 


warms  me. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


WIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

EDITORIAL. 

LADY  WASHINGTON. 

BEFORE  speaking  of  the  ladies  of  the  White  House,  America 
must  lay  her  tribute  of  appreciation  at  the  feet  of  the  royal- 
hearted  mother  of  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

History  has  painted  two  pictures  of  this  exalted  woman.  She 
needs  no  eulogy  but  the  character  of  her  illustrious  son,  for  history 
has  proved  that  every  great  son,  has  possessed  a  great  mother. 
Unknown  peradventure,  unlearned,  perchance  in  book  knowledge, 
but  always  great  of  heart,  great  of  brain,  and  great  of  soul.  The 
mother  of  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  lives  in  the  memory  of  her 
gift  to  this  nation  of  “THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY.’’ 
Two  scenes  sketch  with  vivid  lines  the  royal  woman  and  the  Mother- 
Queen. 

Cornwallis  had  surrendered;  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  was  at 
length  ended.  Two  gendemen  might  have  been  seen  approaching 
a  quaint  old  garden  in  the  city  of  Fredericksburg.  An  old  lady  was 
working  among  her  autumn  flowers,  as  the  gendemen  entered  the 
gate;  dressed  appropriately  for  her  homely  duty,  in  plain  gown  and 
unpretending  sunbonnet,  she  paused  in  her  rural  occupation  to  note 
the  approach  of  her  guests.  Recognizing  the  face  of  her  son,  whom 
she  had  not  seen  for  six  years,  she  hastened  with  courteous  grace  to 
receive  them;  with  stately  apology  to  the  companion  of  her  son,  she 
exclaimed  with  the  true  dignity  of  an  inborn  lady  : 

“  I  have  not  seen  my  dear  son  for  years,  and  I  would  not  pay 
you,  Marquis,  so  poor  a  compliment  as  to  stop  to  change  my  dress.” 


WHA  T  AMERICA  O  WES  TO  WOMAN. 


61 

Thus  Lady  Washington  received  General  Washington  and  the 
Marquis  de  La  Fayette. 

When  La  Fayette  spoke  to  her  of  the  admiration  bestowed  upon 
her  illustrious  son,  she  replied  with  sereneness  and  simplicity  : 

“  I  am  not  surprised  at  what  George  has  done,  for  he  was  always 
a  good  boy  !  ’  ’ 

The  other  picture  presents  Lady  Washington  in  rich  and  becom¬ 
ing  attire,  as  she  enters  the  festive  hall  on  the  arm  of  her  famous  son 
at  an  imposing  reception  given  by  the  inhabitants  of  Fredericksburg 
to  the  victorious  Washington. 

Her  appearance  was  so  dignified,  her  bearing  so  courtly,  her 
manners  so  refined,  and  her  speech  so  affable  that  the  foreign  officers 
present,  exclaimed  in  admiring  amazement : 

“  If  such  are  the  matrons  in  America,  well  may  the  country  boast 
of  illustrious  sons  !  ” 

By  the  side  of  the  stately  mother  of  George  Washington,  America 
should  place  one  other  mother  in  grateful  remembrance. 

“All  I  am  I  owe  to  my  mother!”  So  said  the  most  typical 
American,  Abraham  Lincoln.” 


Mrs.  NANCY  HANKS  LINCOLN. 

Nancy  Hanks  Lincoln,  in  her  log-cabin  on  the  western  frontier, 
presents  a  very  different  picture  from  Lady  Washington,  in  the 
Fredericksburg  ball-room.  But  in  that  lonely  comfortless  cabin, 
shone  as  pure  a  soul,  and  courageous  a  heart,  and  noble  a  type  of 
American  womanhood.  Had  Nancy  Hanks  been  less  than  the 
woman  she  was,  Abraham  Lincoln  would  have  been  bereft  of  his 
priceless  legacy  of  mind  and  character.  Behold  Lady  Washington, 
in  her  rich  and  becoming  reception  robes,  and  Nancy  Hanks,  in  her 
poor  garments,  in  a  cabin  with  only  openings  for  doors  and  windows 
through  which  the  winter  snows  could  force  entrance  even  to  lay 
their  cold  coverings  upon  her  rude  bed  of  straw;  with  no  library  but 
her  Bible,  no  companionship  but  her  unlearned  and  careless  husband, 
and  half-clad,  half-fed  children,  yet  the  sad  eyes  inspired  by  unflinch¬ 
ing  faith,  and  the  patient  face  stamped  by  a  dauntless  heroism,  so 


62 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


impressed  themselves  indelibly  upon  the  memory  and  heart  of  her 
son,  that  though  she  left  him  motherless  at  ten  years  of  age,  his 
noble  tribute  to  that  self-sacrificing  mother,  when  all  the  world  were 
rendering  him  honor,  was  the  eloquent  and  thrilling  memorial,  “  All 
I  am  I  owe  to  my  mother  !  ” 

As  Abraham  Lincoln,  called  the  “Savior  of  his  Country,’’  stands 
forever  by  the  side  of  George  Washington,  “The  Father  of  his 
Country,’’  on  the  page  of  American  history,  so  side  by  side  together 
will  forever  be  held  in  memory  by  a  grateful  nation,  Lady  Washing¬ 
ton  and  Nancy  Hanks  Lincoln. 

“  Oh,  men  of  America,  what  a  testimony  from  our  greatest  modern 
American  !  Aye,  the  greatest  of  all  our  heroes  1  And  how  many 
more  could  re-echo  his  words,  if  called  upon  for  testimony.  And 
you,  the  mothers  of  our  great  ones,  and  of  all  the  leal-hearted  and 
brave,  such  a  message  as  this  to  you  is  a  thrill  of  joy.  She  it  was 
who,  in  ten  short  years  of  his  infant  life,  so  moulded  his  character, 
purified  his  ambition,  made  his  aims  and  him  all  he  was  to  us  and  to 
the  race,  that,  in  his  after  days,  amid  all  his  checkered  life,  she  still 
remained  his  guiding  angel,  the  star  of  his  proud  destiny,  until  the 
assassin’s  bullet  set  him  free  to  rejoin  the  mother  to  whom  he  owed 
so  much.” 


Mrs.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

Mrs.  Burton  Harrison,  in  an  article  in  the  Century  Magazine , 
thus  pictures  Mrs.  Martha  Washington  at  her  Mount  Vernon  home: 
“A  mob-cap  covering  her  gray  hair,  and  key-basket  in  hand,  the 
wife  of  Washington  must  have  offered  a  pleasant  picture  of  the  days 
when  the  housekeepers  were  not  ashamed  to  weigh  their  own  sup¬ 
plies,  and  butcher’s  books  and  lounging  grocer’s  boys  were  not.  In 
their  stead  were  seen  the  black  cook  and  her  myrmidons,  smiling, 
goggling,  courtesying,  holding  their  wooden  pails  and  ‘  piggins,  ’  to 
receive  the  day’s  allowance.  If  there  were  a  ‘sugar  loaf’  to  crack, 
a  tall  glittering  monument  like  an  aiguille  of  the  Alps,  emerging 
stainless  from  its  dark  blue  wrapper,  it  was  the  mistress  of  the  house 
who  brought  her  strength  to  bear  on  it;  there  wrere  ‘whips’  and 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


63 


'floating  islands,’  and  jellies  to  compound,  and  to  ‘tie  down’  the 
preserves  was  no  small  piece  of  work. 

“The  rites  of  the  store-room  at  end,  it  was  Mrs.  Washington’s 
practice  to  retire  to  her  closet;  for  the  exercise  of  private  devotions, 
however  onerous,  was  accepted  as  naturally  by  generations  of  South¬ 
ern  housewives  as  was  the  responsibility  for  their  own  flesh  and 
blood. 

“This  business  of  reception  went  on  intermittingly  during  the 
morning  hours,  but  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Madam  Washington 
sat  with  idle  hands  the  while.  Scattered  about  the  room  were  black 
women  engaged  at  work  that  must  be  overlooked;  Flavia cutting  out 
innumerable  garments  of  domestic  cotton  for  ‘  quarter  ’  use,  Sylvia 
at  her  seam,  Myrtilla  at  her  wheel — not  to  mention  the  small  dark 
creatures  with  wool  be-twigged,  perched  upon  crickets  round  about 
the  hearth,  learning  to  sew,  to  mend,  to  darn,  with  ‘  ole  Miss  ’  for 
teacher.  During  the  late  war  Mrs.  Washington’s  boast  had  been 
that  she  had  kept  as  many  as  sixteen  wheels  at  a  time  whirring  on 
the  plantation.  A  favorite  gown  had  been  woven  by  her  maids,  of 
cotton,  striped  with  silk  procured  by  ravelling  the  General’s  discarded 
stockings,  and  enlivened  by  a  line  of  crimson  from  some  worn-out 
chair  covers  of  satin  damask. 

“In  the  intervals  Madam  was  at  leisure  to  chat  with  her  guests 
about  patterns,  chickens,  small-pox,  husbands,  and  such  like.  The 
management  of  children  was  also  a  fruitful  theme.  .  .  In  the  after¬ 
noon,  their  custom  was  to  take  a  discreet  walk  in  the  shrubbery. 
At  the  right  time  of  the  year  they  would  gather  rose  leaves  to  fill 
the  muslin  bags  that  lay  in  every  drawer,  on  every  shelf,  or  sprays  of 
honesty  (they  called  it  ‘silver  shilling,’)  to  deck  the  vases  on  the 
parlor  mantelpiece.  After  reading  a  bit  out  of  the  ‘  Tatler,’  the  ‘  Senti¬ 
mental  Magazine,’  or  the  ‘  Letters  of  Lady  Montagu,’  they  would 
take  their  forty  winks — the  beauty-sleep  of  a  woman  Southern-born. 

“  Everybody  looked  forward  to  the  evening,  when  the  General  sat 
with  them.  This  was  the  children’s  hour,  when,  by  the  uncertain 
twinkle  of  home-made  candles,  lighting  but  dimly  the  great  saloon, 
while  their  elders  turned  trumps  around  the  card-tables,  the  young 
people  were  called  upon  to  show  their  steps,  to  strum  their  pieces,  to 
sing  their  quavering  little  songs.” 


64 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Mrs.  Washington  as  lady  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  as  wife  of  our 
first  President,  has  thereby  obtained  a  position  of  unequalled  promi¬ 
nence  among  our  American  women  of  history,  but  though,  as  Mrs. 
Harriet  Taylor  Upton  says,  in  her  “  Our  Early  Presidents,”  “  Mrs. 
Washington  took  her  place  as  first  lady  of  the  land  and  held  her 
full-dress  levees  like  a  queen,  where  the  president  always  received  at 
her  side,”  Mrs.  Washington  much  preferred  the  seclusion  of  her 
Mount  Vernon  home.  “  She  is  said  to  have  been  statuesque,  stately, 
to  have  shown  a  wonderful  discretion  in  all  things,  to  have  been  ab¬ 
solutely  colorless  as  a  social  leader  and  a  woman  of  affairs,  and  per¬ 
mitting  no  political  discussions  in  her  presence.”  Aside  from  the 
honor  which  America  owes  to  Martha  Washington,  on  account  of 
her  official  position,  as  the  honored  wife  of  the  revered  “  Father  of 
his  Country,”  America  also  should  recognize  her  obligation  to 
Martha  Washington,  herself  personally,  irrespective  of  the  reflected 
glory  naturally  falling  upon  her  from  her  illustrious  husband;  in  that 
“  Mrs.  Washington,  immediately  after  her  husband’s  death,  learning 
from  his  will  that  the  only  obstacles  to  the  immediate  emancipation 
ol  their  slaves  was  her  right  of  dower,  straightway  relinquished  that 
right,  and  the  slaves  were  at  once  emancipated.” 

Perhaps  the  name  of  no  woman  in  history  has  ever  received 
greater  homage  than  the  name  of  Martha  Washington;  and  though 
her  individual  character  and  mental  acquirements  would  never  have 
achieved  for  herself  this  world-wide  renown,  that  she  was  chosen  to 
fill  the  place  by  the  side  of  our  great  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 
during  his  preeminently  distinguished  career,  and  that  she  lies  by  his 
side  in  that  tomb,  consecrated  to  the  memory  of  ‘‘the  noblest  figure 
that  ever  stood  in  the  forefront  of  a  nation’s  life,”  has  given  Martha 
Washington  an  immortal  place  in  American  history. 

As  the  restoration  of  Mount  Vernon  has  been  the  loving  and  pa¬ 
triotic  work  of  American  women,  it  is  appropriate  that  mention  of  it 
should  find  a  place  here.  Mrs.  Lucy  Page  Stelle,  thus  writes  in  a 
recent  article  upon  Mount  Vernon. 

“  In  1833,  Dr.  Andrew  Reed,  an  English  philanthropist,  wrote  an 
eulogy  at  the  grave  of  Washington;  at  the  same  time  he  asked  the 
question:  ‘  How  could  the  people  suffer  Mount  Vernon  to  pass 

into  ruin?  Surely  it  is  a  thing  impossible!’  The  answer  to  this 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


65 


important  national  query  was  given  some  years  afterwards,  when  Miss 
Pamela  Cunningham,  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  ‘  The  Southern 
Matron,’  made  her  eloquent  appeals,  calling  forth  a  wide-spread  re¬ 
sponse  throughout  the  Union.  She  was  deeply  impressed  with  the 
idea  that  the  care  of  the  house  and  tomb  of  Washington  should  be 
confided  to  the  women  of  America.  With  the  notable  assistance 
of  Edward  Everett,  Miss  Cunningham,  though  an  invalid,  organized 
this  national  work,  and  that  it  has  been  successfully  carried  out, 
mainly  by  women,  the  restored  and  perfect  condition  of  Mount 
Vernon  as  it  appears  now,  is  abundant  proof. 

“To  visit  Mount  Vernon  in  its  present  restored  beauty,  is  like 
turning  the  leaves  backward  to  one  of  the  fairest  pages  of  our  national 
history;  a  page  from  which  the  tears  and  scars  of  Valley  Forge, 
Morristown,  and  Newport  have  all  been  obliterated,  and  only  the 
serene  picture  of  its  beauty  and  poetry  remains.  The  beauty  of 
quaint  historic  times,  for  there  the  air  seems  full  of  the  benediction 
of  peace,  and  the  memory  of  him  who  left  the  impress  of  his  indi¬ 
viduality  upon  the  home  of  his  heart,  as  he  has  left  the  stamp  of  his 
greatness  upon  the  ‘  national  heart.  ’  Every  visitor  to  this  renowned 
spot  must  feel  a  profound  sense  of  gratitude  to  the  women  of  America 
whose  work  it  has  been  to  rescue  from  ruin  this  place  sacred  with  the 
memories  of  Washington;  consecrated  by  its  wealth  of  historic  mem¬ 
orials;  where  every  American  treads  with  reverent  step.” 


Mrs.  JOHN  ADAMS. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  has  collected  such  interesting  facts  re¬ 
garding  Mrs.  John  Adams,  in  her  book  on  “  Our  Early  Presidents,” 
that  we  cannot  better  picture  the  wife  of  our  second  President,  than 
to  cull  from  those  pages: 

“  Great  was  the  contrast  in  the  manner  of  living  between  the  fam¬ 
ily  of  George  Washington  and  that  of  John  Adams.  Young  Mrs. 
Washington  came  to  Mount  Vernon  the  mistress  of  a  fortune,  and 
from  a  home  where  luxury  had  prevailed.  Little  that  savored  of 
rank  and  the  mother-country  attended  upon  the  Adams  household. 


66 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


“  The  Adamses  of  the  earlier  colonial  days  were  respectable,  but  in  no 
wise  distinguished.  Though  eight  generations  preceded  him  on 
American  soil,  it  is  John,  the  child  of  the  little  red  house  on  the  coun¬ 
try  road,  that  is  always  spoken  of  as  the  ‘  first  Adams;  ’  the  histori¬ 
cal  interest  begins  with  him. 

“However,  at  thirty,  young  Adams  was  not  yet  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  Member  of  Congress,  Minister  to  Great 
Britain,  President  of  the  United  States;  and  when  he  proposed  for 
the  hand  of  Miss  Abigail  Smith,  of  Weymouth,  he  was  considered 
most  presumptuous;  and  when  she  accepted  him  she  was  severely 
criticised  by  the  towns-people  generally  as  not  taking  her  equal. 
Was  she  not  a  descendant  of  the  Quincy’s?  Was  not  her  father  the 
minister? 

“Public  opinion,  however,  did  not  change  Miss  Abigail’s  mind; 
and  when  in  October,  1764,  she  became  Mrs.  Adams,  her  father 
preached  a  sermon  which  had  some  bearing  upon  the  spirit  of  gossip 
among  his  parishioners.  This  was  his  text  : 

‘  For  John  came  7ieither  eating  bread  nor  drinking  wine,  and  ye 
say  he  hath  a  devil.' 

“As  time  went  on,  this  particular  John  failed  to  manifest  any  signs 
of  having  a  devil;  instead  he  began  to  lead  public  opinion  in  all  his 
section  of  his  country,  and  the  Congregational  minister  grew  fond  of 
his  son-in-law. 

“  The  published  letters  of  the  John  Adams  family,  the  most  inter¬ 
esting  epistolary  writing  of  the  period,  strike  one  by  their  quaint 
formality.  The  mother,  no  matter  how  long  the  father  was  absent, 
addresses  him  as  ‘  my  dearest  friend;  ’  and  instead  of  relating  at  any 
length  the  sayings  and  doings  of  their  little  family  she  discusses  the 
political  situation  through  many  pages.  The  little  daughter,  Miss 
Abigail,  in  a  stately  way,  requests  her  mother  to  convey  her 
‘  duty  ’  to  her  father. 

“When  the  first  gun  of  the  Revolution  was  fired,  in  1775,  the 
little  Adams  children  were  with  their  mother  at  Braintree,  afterwards 
called  Quincy.  They  had  been  living  in  Boston,  but  the  British  oc¬ 
cupancy  of  the  city  had  driven  them  out.  Mr.  Adams  was  in  Con¬ 
gress,  which  was  in  session  at  Philadelphia.  That  was  his  post  of 
duty,  and  the  best  he  could  do  for  his  family  was  to  write  home  to 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


67 


his  wife  to  fly  to  the  woods  with  the  children,  should  the  British  at¬ 
tack  them. 

‘  ‘  While  the  lightnings  of  debate  flashed  blindingly  in  the  halls 
where  John  Adams  was  the  most  arrant  and  determined  rebel  of  the 
indignant  little  crowd  of  patriots,  the  thunder  of  actual  battle  was 
raging  around  Mrs.  Adams’  humble  door.  She  had  but  to  climb 
Penn’s  Hill  to  see,  literally,  American  liberty  in  process  of  making. 
One  hot,  clear  June  day,  clambering  up  near  the  summit,  the  little 
John  Quincy  and  Abigail  at  her  side,  she  looked  across  the  bay  and 
.  saw  Charlestown  burn,  and  the  lurid  smoke  of  Bunker  Hill.  Mrs. 
Adams  wrote,  describing  the  scene:  ‘  The  battle  began  upon  our  in- 
tren dime’ its  upon  Bunker  Hill,  Saturday  morning  about  three 
o’clock,  and  has  not  ceased  yet,  and  it  is  now  three  o’clock  Sabbath 
afternoon.  Charlestown  is  laid  in  ashes.  It  is  expected  they  will 
come  over  the  Neck  to-night,  and  a  dreadful  battle  must  ensue. 
How  many  have  fallen  we  know  not.  The  constant  war  of  the  cannon 
is  so  distressing  that  we  cannot  eat,  drink,  or  sleep.  My  bursting 
heart  must  find  vent  at  my  pen.’ 

1  ‘  On  a  bleak  March  day  they  again  climbed  the  hill  and  witnessed 
the  storming  of  Dorchester  Heights.  This  time  Mrs.  Adams  says: 

‘  I  have  just  returned  from  Penn’s  Hill,  where  I  have  been  sitting  to 
hear  the  amazing  roar  of  cannon,  and  from  whence  I  could  see  every 
shell  that  was  thrown.  I  went  to  bed  about  twelve  and  rose  again 
a  little  after  one.  I  could  no  more  sleep  than  if  I  had  been  in  the 
engagement;  the  rattling  of  the  windows,  the  jar  of  the  house,  the 
continued  roar  of  twenty-four-pounders,  and  the  bursting  of  shells. 
About  six  this  morning  there  was  quiet.  I  rejoiced  in  a  few  hours’ 
calm.  I  hear  we  got  possession  of  Dorchester  Hill  last  night.  ’ 

“  When  the  British  evacuated  Boston  the  Adams  family  were  on 
the  hill-top  as  usual,  and  saw  the  fleet  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
sails  drop  down  the  harbor.  Mrs.  Adams  does  not  think  the  fight  is 
over,  but  she  is  convinced  of  her  countrymen’s  pluck,  and  hopes  the 
British  will  have  to  pay  ‘  Bunker-Hill  ’  price  for  every  foot  of  Ameri¬ 
can  soil  they  get  to  themselves. 

‘  ‘  These  scenes  remained  vivid  in  the  minds  of  the  Adams  children 
throughout  life.  During  the  revolution  they  lived  in  the  most  frugal 
way.  Often,  on  account  of  the  blockade  and  the  patrolling  of  the 


68 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


country  roads  by  the  British  horsemen,  or  because  there  were  none 
to  go  about  and  deliver  food,  they  were  denied  even  sufficient  to 
safely  subsist  upon.  Once  they  were  four  months  without  flour,  and 
in  one  of  Mrs.  Adams’s  letters  she  says:  ‘We  shall  soon  have  no 
coffee  nor  sugar  nor  pepper,  but  we  will  be  content  with  whortleber¬ 
ries  and  milk.’  She  adds  however,  ‘I  cannot  wear  leather  if  I  go 
barefoot,’  and  begs  for  some  ‘black  calamanco  ’  for  shoes,  and  more 
than  once  cries  out  for  pins — ‘  not  one  pin  to  be  purchased  for  love 
or  money;  ’  and  we  find  her  forwarding  stately  thanks  to  some  gal¬ 
lant  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Adams  who  has  sent  her  ‘  a  bundle  of  pins.’ 

“  Mrs.  Adams,  though  physically  she  might  be  so  delicate  that 
she  could  not  ‘  wear  leather,’  was  a  woman  of  Spartan  soul,  a  patriot 
mate  for  her  husband,  and  the  pair  trained  their  sons  in  love  for  their 
country.  The  spirit  of  resistance  to  tyranny  permeated  the  air  the 
household  breathed.  The  little  boys  taught  to  write  in  their  pinafore 
days,  indited  epistles  of  patriotism  to  their  father  in  Congress, 
addressing  him  as  ‘Sir.’  Every  night  after  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  said 
in  bed,  Mrs.  Adams  taught  the  young  John  Quincy  to  repeat  Col¬ 
lins’s  patriotic  ode,  which  begins: 

‘How  sleep  the  brave  who  sink  to  rest 

By  all  their  country’s  wishes  blest.’ 

This  brave  little  Adams  brood  felt  it  no  strange  or  dread  thing  to 
lose  their  lives,  or  endure  hardships,  or  take  risks  in  their  country’s 
time  of  trouble.  Little  John  Quincy  Adams  was  installed  to  be  the 
post-rider  of  the  house,  setting  off  whenever  bidden,  to  go  to  and 
fro,  on  horseback,  between  Boston  and  Braintree,  eleven  miles  each 
way,  with  chances  of  capture  or  death  all  along;  not  nine  years  old 
was  he  then. 

“Abigail  was  the  eldest  of  the  John  Adams  children.  It  is  said 
that  in  looks  she  resembled  her  father  in  his  youth.  Her  mother, 
writing  of  her  to  Mr.  Adams,  says,  ‘your  daughter,  your  image, 
your  superscription.’  Among  the  accomplishments  of  those  days 
was  letter-writing,  and  Abigail  and  her  friends  wrote  very  carefully- 
worded  epistles  during  the  week  and  carried  them  to  church  on 
Sunday  and  exchanged  with  one  another.  These  letters  were 
wholly  unlike  little  girls’  letters  of  our  time;  they  were  small  essays, 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


69 


filled  with  religious  sentiments.  She  learned  economy  in  its  strictest 
sense,  such  as  very  few  people  now  practice.  As  her  mother’s 
handmaiden  and  companion,  she  daily  saw  forethought  and  saving 
brought  into  practice.  She  saw  money  carefully  counted  and  appor¬ 
tioned,  one  intended  purchase  after  another  abandoned  until  only 
the  fewest  and  the  really  indispensable  things  were  bought;  she 
remembered  when  it  took  twelve  Continental  dollars  to  buy  a  pound 
of  butter,  twenty  to  buy  a  yard  of  linen  and  twenty  to  buy  a  gallon 
of  molasses. 

“At  seven  John  had-  been  reading  ‘Rollins’  Ancient  History’ 
aloud  to  his  mother,  and  was  also  hard  at  work  on  the  Latin 
language.  His  father  wrote  at  that  period  from  Congress:  ‘I  hope 
to  hear  a  good  account  of  his  accidence  and  nomenclature  when  I 
return.’  He  often  urged  Mrs.  Adams  to  pay  particular  attention  to 
the  children’s  French.  He  says: 

‘  I  wish  I  understood  French  as  well  as  you.  I  feel  the  want  of 
education  every  day,  particularly  of  that  language.  I  pray,  my 
dear,  that  you  would  not  suffer  your  sons  or  your  daughter  ever  to 
feel  a  similar  pain.  It  is  in  your  power  to  teach  them  French,  and  I 
every  day  see  more  and  more  that  it  will  become  a  necessary 
accomplishment  of  an  American  gentleman  or  lady.’ 

“  In  the  spring  of  1778  Congress  sent  Mr.  Adams  over  to  France  to 
re-inforce  Dr.  Franklin  there,  as  joint-commissioner.  He  took  with 
him  his  eldest  son.  Master  J.  Q.  was  only  ten,  but  as  we  know, 
had  always  been  a  great  reader,  and  his  mind  and  character  had 
developed  beyond  the  ordinary  growth  of  boys  of  his  age  and 
time. 

‘  ‘  Mrs.  Adams  read  their  letters  from  sunny  France  and  answered 
them  amid  the  thousand  cares  and  harassments  of  a  ‘farmeress,’  as 
Mr.  Adams  sometimes  called  her.  Farm-labor  was  eight  dollars  a 
day.*  She  was  paying  forty  dollars  a  yard  for  calico,  four  dollars  a 
pound  for  sugar,  all  food  in  proportion,  and  she  writes  to  Mr.  Adams 
that  she  supplies  her  own  family  sparingly;  she  says:  ‘  I  scarcely 
know  the  look  or  taste  of  biscuit  or  flour  for  this  four  months.’ 
Families  all  through  the  New  England  section  were  fed  as  sparingly. 
The  prospects  of  the  Continental  Army  and  the  infant  nation  were 


♦Continental  money. 


70 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVEN IR. 


dark,  dark.  She  looks  out  from  her  bleak  windows  in  Braintree 
upon  ‘mountains  of  snow,’  and  a  winter  hurricane,  isolated  from  all 
but  her  children  and  her  domestics,  and  sighs:  ‘  How  insupportable 
the  idea  that  three  thousand  miles  and  the  vast  ocean  now  divide 
us!’  then  adds: 

‘  Difficult  as  the  day  is,  cruel  as  the  war  has  been,  separated  as  I 
am,  on  account  of  it,  from  the  dearest  connection  in  life,  I  would 
not  exchange  my  country  for  the  wealth  of  the  Indies  or  be  any 
other  than  an  American,  though  I  might  be  queen  or  empress  of 
any  nation  upon  the  globe.’  ” 

The  affairs  of  America  requiring  the  continued  presence  of  Mr. 
Adams  in  Europe,  Mrs.  Adams  and  her  children  joined  him  there  in 
1784.  “This  was  a  great  event  for  the  Adams  young  people, 
especially  Miss  Abigail,  then  eighteen.  The  Massachusetts  girl 
looked  on  at  the  fairy-tale  French  life,  in  which  she  presently  found 
herself  involved,  with  a  very  critical  eye.  She  notes  in  her  diary: 

‘  This  people  are  more  attentive  to  their  amusements  than  anything 
else;’  that  ‘  no  one  in  Europe  is  fearful  of  asking  a  remembrance,’ 
otherwise  a  ‘tip;’  is  astonished  when  she  finds  a  house  that  is 
‘  elegant  and  neat  at  the  same  time;  ’  speaks  of  a  French  gentle¬ 
man  as  1  an  agreeable  man  who  has  been  in  America  and  was  per¬ 
haps  improved;  ’  feels  are  pugnance  to  dining  off  silver  and  gold 
dishes  which  she  ‘  cannot  like  as  well  as  china;  ’  admires  the  soft¬ 
ness  and  affability  of  ‘French  ease;’  criticises  those  ladies  ‘who 
by  an  exuberance  of  sprightliness  and  wit  slip  from  the  path  of 
being  perfectly  agreeable;  ’  notes  that  Madame  de  La  Fayette 
‘  does  not  like  French  ladies  and  prefers  Americans;  ’  that  ‘  it  will  not 
do  to  see  any  dancing  after  that  at  the  opera  which  exceeds  everything 
in  the  world ;  ’  criticises  women  with  grace  who  lack  dignity,  ‘  grace,’ 
she  says,  ‘depends  upon  the  person,  actions  and  manners;  dignity 
is  placed  in  the  mind,’  in  short  she  distrusts  the  nature  of  a  French 
lady  while  she  admires  her  manner,  and  agrees  with  the  gentleman 
who  said  that  he  ‘  preferred  an  English  lady  who  had  acquired  the 
graces  of  French  manners.’  ” 

These  comments  from  a  young  girl  of  eighteen,  reveal  the  discern¬ 
ing  mind  of  Abigail  Adams. 

Mrs.  Adams  was  constantly  watchful  regarding  the  education  of 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


71 

her  sons  also.  When  it  was  remarked  that  the  youngest  son, 
Thomas,  had  lost  somewhat  of  his  jollity  and  rosiness  from  hard 
study,  his  mother  writes :  1  ‘  He  who  dies  with  studying  dies  in  a 
good  cause,  and  may  go  to  another  world  much  better  calculated  to 
improve  his  talents  than  if  he  had  died  a  blockhead.” 

Thomas,  however,  did  not  die,  but  lived  to  old  age,  thanking  his 
mother,  doubtless,  for  making  him  apply  himself  in  his  youth. 
During  the  last  year  of  Mr.  Adams’s  administration,  the  city  of 
Washington  became  the  seat  of  government. 

Mrs.  Adams  found  the  White  House,  though  upon  a  grand  and 
superb  scale,  requiring  about  thirty  servants,  to  be  cold  and  cheer¬ 
less,  after  her  more  modest  home  but  she  writes  to  her  daughter: 

“  If  they  will  put  me  up  some  bells  and  let  me  have  wood  enough 
to  keep  fires  I  design  to  be  pleased.  Surrounded  with  forests,  can 
you  believe  that  wood  is  not  to  be  had  because  people  cannot  be 
had  to  cut  and  cart  it  ?  ”  “  Not  a  single  room  was  finished,  the  prin¬ 
cipal  stairs  were  not  up,  and  Mondays  the  White  House  washing 
was  hung  to  dry  in  the  great  East  Room.” 

After  Mr.  Adams’s  term  as  President  expired,  the  patriotic  pair, 
who  had  sacrificed  so  much  of  their  home  life  in  the  interests  of 
their  country,  retired  with  great  content  to  their  quiet  home,  where 
they  enjoyed  for  nearly  eighteen  years  the  simple  pleasures  of  rural 
life.  After  Mrs.  Adams’s  death,  in  18x8,  the  aged  ex-president, 
writing  to  his  granddaughter,  said  of  his  wife: 

“She  never  by  word  or  look  discouraged  me  from  running  all 
hazards  for  the  salvation  of  my  country’s  liberty.  She  was  willing 
to  share  with  me  and  that  her  children  should  share  with  us  both  in 
all  the  dangerous  consequences  we  had  to  hazard.” 

Mrs.  Adams  lived  to  see  her  eldest  son,  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Secretary  of  State  under  President  Monroe,  and  Mr.  Adams  lived  to 
see  that  same  son  President  of  the  United  States. 


Mrs.  JAMES  MADISON. 

As  Thomas  Jefferson  was  a  widower  at  the  time  of  his  inaugura¬ 
tion  as  President,  and  both  his  daughters  being  then  married,  Mrs. 


72 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Dolly  Madison,  wife  of  his  Secretary  of  State,  presided  on  most  State 
occasions  as  Lady  of  the  White  House.  Mr.  Jefferson’s  eldest 
daughter,  Martha  Jefferson  Randolph,  though  very  brilliant  in  con¬ 
versation  and  graceful  in  social  gatherings,  was  also  very  domestic, 
and  being  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  six  of  whom  were  daughters, 
and  all  of  these  daughters  being  entirely  educated  by  their  mother, 
Mrs.  Randolph  was  only  at  the  White  House  during  the  winters  of 
1802  and  1803. 

Mrs.  Dolly  Madison  achieved  a  more  popular  position  in  social 
life  than  any  other  President’s  wife,  excepting  Mrs.  Grover  Cleve¬ 
land.  Mrs.  Madison  was  not  intellectual,  though  possessed  of  rare 
tact,  which  added  to  great  sprightliness  of  mind  and  unbounded 
good  nature,  and  quick  preceptions,  made  up  in  social  gatherings 
at  least  for  a  somewhat  meagre  education,  and  disinclination  for 
instructive  reading.  Like  all  the  cultured  ladies  of  her  time,  she  was 
a  delightful  letter-writer,  and  though  as  literary  efforts  they  fell  far 
short  of  the  eminent  mental  force  of  the  letters  of  Mrs.  John  Adams, 
the  letters  of  Dolly  Madison  were  always  welcome  for  their  bright 
cheeriness  and  unselfish  kindliness  of  tone.  But  pretty  Mistress  Dolly 
Madison  has  left  behind  her  a  fame  founded  upon  something  more 
enduring  than  personal  loveliness,  social  prestige  and  winning  graces, 
commendable  as  those  may  be.  To  her  America  owes  the  heroic 
deed  of  saving  many  of  the  Government  papers;  foremost  among 
which  was  the  immortal  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  also  the 
renowned  portrait  of  George  Washington,  when  the  City  of  Wash¬ 
ington  was  invaded  by  the  British  and  the  Capitol;  White  House  and 
many  other  buildings  were  partially  consumed  by  the  flames  lighted 
by  the  torches  of  the  invading  enemy.  Mrs.  Madison  thus  describes 
these  incidents  in  a  letter  to  her  sister  Anna: 

Tuesday,  August  23RD,  1814. 

“Dear  Sister: — My  husband  left  me  yesterday  morning  to  join 
General  Winder.  He  inquiredanxiously  whether  I  had  courage  and 
firmness  to  remain  in  the  President’s  house  until  his  return  on  the 
morrow  or  succeeding  day,  and  on  my  assurance  that  I  had  no  fear 
but  for  him  and  the  success  of  our  army,  he  left,  beseeching  me  to 
take  care  of  myself  and  of  the  Cabinet  papers,  public  and  private.  I 
have  since  receivod  two  dispatches  from  him  written  with  a  pencil. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


73 


The  last  alarming,  because  he  desires  that  I  should  be  ready  at  a 
moment’s  warning  to  enter  my  carriage  and  leave  the  city;  that  the 
enemy  seemed  stronger  than  had  at  first  been  reported,  and  it  might 
happen  that  they  would  reach  the  city  with  the  intention  of  destroy¬ 
ing  it.  I  am  accordingly  ready.  I  have  pressed  as  many  Cabinet 
papers  into  trunks  as  to  fill  one  carriage.  Our  private  property  must 
be  sacrificed  as  it  is  impossible  to  procure  wagons  for  its  transportation. 
I  am  determined  not  to  go  myself  until  I  see  Mr.  Madison  safe,  so 
that  he  can  accompany  me,  as  I  hear  of  much  hostility  towards  him. 
Disaffection  stalks  around  us.  My  friends  and  acquaintances  are  all 
gone,  even  Colonel  C.  with  his  hundred,  who  were  stationed  as 
guard  in  this  enclosure.  French  John  (a  faithful  servant)  with  his 
usual  activity  and  resolution  offers  to  spike  the  cannon  at  the  gate  and 
lay  a  train  of  powder  which  would  blow  up  the  British  should  they 
enter  the  house.  To  the  last  proposition  I  positively  object,  without 
being  able  to  make  him  understand  why  all  advantages  in  war  may 
not  be  taken. 

Wednesday  morning,  twelve  o’clock. — Since  sunrise  I  have  been 
turning  my  spy-glass  in  every  direction  and  watching  with  unwearied 
anxiety,  hoping  to  discover  the  approach  of  my  dear  husband  and 
his  friends;  but,  alas!  I  can  descry  only  groups  of  military  wander¬ 
ing  in  all  directions  as  if  there  were  a  lack  of  arms  or  of  spirit  to  fight 
for  their  own  firesides. 

Three  o’clock. — Will  you  believe  it,  my  sister?  We  have  had  a 
battle  or  skirmish  near  Bladensburg  and  here  I  am  still,  within  sound 
of  the  cannon!  Mr.  Madison  comes  not.  May  God  protect  us! 
Two  messengers,  covered  with  dust,  come  to  bid  me  fly,  but  here  I 
mean  to  wait  for  him.  At  this  late  hour  a  wagon  has  been  procured 
and  I  have  had  it  filled  with  plate  and  the  most  valuable  portable  arti¬ 
cles  belonging  to  the  house.  Whether  it  will  reach  its  destination,  the 
‘  Bank  of  Maryland,’  or  fall  into  the  hands  of  British  soldiery,  events 
must  determine.  Our  kind  friend,  Mr.  Carroll,  has  come  to  hasten  my 
departure  and  is  in  a  very  bad  humor  with  me,  because  I  insist  on 
waiting  until  the  large  picture  of  General  Washington  is  secured,  and 
it  requires  to  be  unscrewed  from  the  wall.  This  process  was  found 
too  tedious  for  these  perilous  moments.  I  have  ordered  the  frame  to 
be  broken  and  the  canvass  taken  out.  It  is  done!  and  the  precious 
portrait  placed  in  the  hands  of  two  gentlemen  of  New  York  for  safe 
keeping.  And  now,  dear  sister,  I  must  leave  this  house  or  the 
retreating  army  will  make  me  a  prisoner  in  it  by  filling  up  the  road  I 
am  directed  to  take.  When  I  shall  again  write  to  you,  or  where  I 
may  be  to-morrow,  I  cannot  tell!” 

DOLLY. 


/ 


74 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


And  so  Mistress  Dolly,  as  brave  a  patriot  in  danger  as  the  more 
intellectual  Mrs.  Adams; — on  this  heroic  plain  of  patriotism,  beauty 
and  brains,  social  tact  and  stern  well-trained  intellect,  are  all  mar¬ 
shalled  under  the  one  overpowering  motive  of  love  of  country;  and 
Mistress  Dolly  and  Abigail  Adams,  the  one  in  the  thunderous  roar  of 
the  Revolution,  the  other  in  the  threatening  tumult  of  the  War  of 
1812,  stand  as  sister  spirits,  brave  to  dare  and  strong  to  endure. 

Not  in  an  open  barouche,  with  rosy  cheeks  peeping  forth  from 
quiet  Quaker  garb  and  blue  eyes  flashing  with  joyous  happiness, 
restful  in  the  glad  trust  of  a  loving  woman’s  heart,  anchored  in 
safety,  in  the  strong  character  and  noble  nature  of  the  man  beside 
her,  whose  honored  name  she  is  soon  to  receive  as  her  own  at  the 
marriage  altar,  whither  the  pair  are  going; — not  in  this  joyous  fashion 
does  Dolly  Madison,  Mistress  of  the  White  House; — alas,  mistress 
there  no  longer;  through  British  invasion; — ride  now  as  in  by¬ 
gone  days  rode  the  pretty  widow  Dolly  Todd,  about  to  become  the 
honored  wife  of  James  Madison. 

For  now  behold  this  dauntless  Dolly  must  fly  with  cumbered  car¬ 
riage  carrying  priceless  papers;  fleeing  from  flames  behind  towards 
dangers  yet  unknown,  but  giving  premonition  of  their  threatening 
presence  by  sullen  cannon  roar,  and  made  more  nearly  visible  by 
rushing  crowds  of  retreating  soldiers,  wearing  the  blue  of  the  infant 
Republic. 

Sundry  swiftly  speeding  conveyances  containing  frightened 
refugees  rush  by,  and  cannon’s  roar  and  startled  cries  and  dire 
confusions  run  riot,  and  anon  are  glimpses  of  bursting  flames  in  the 
city  behind,  where  Admiral  Cockburn  gained  not-to-be-envied- 
notoriety  for  dining  amidst  his  band  of  lawless  men  in  apartments 
close  to  the  burning  White  House,  that  he  might  carry  out  his  threat, 
“that  he  would  dine  by  the  light  of  the  President’s  burning 
palace.  ’  ’ 

Amidst  all  these  dreadful  disasters  a  furious  thunder-storm  over¬ 
whelmed  the  flying  Dolly,  not  to  the  discomfiture  of  her  brave  heart 
however,  for  though  the  lightnings  mingled  with  the  distant  flames, 
and  thunders  roared  a  terrific  accompaniment  to  cannonade  of  hostile 
batteries,  and  trees  fell  crashing  to  the  ground,  and  black  darkness 
of  storm  and  midnight  enveloped  her  with  impenetrable  shroud,  yet 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


75 


the  dauntless  Dolly  wavered  not,  was  not  overcome;  yea,  though 
still  more  she  must  encounter;  this  last  assault  more  cruel,  because 
coming  from  the  hands  of  supposed  friends;  those  whom  she  had 
feasted  but  the  week  before  at  her  own  table. 

Having  pushed  on  through  all  these  countless  obstacles,  which 
pressed  upon  her  with  relentless  fury,  she  at  length  reached  the  door 
of  the  designated  house  where  Mrs.  Madison  had  been  directed  to 
await  the  coming  of  the  President.  This  late  social  queen,  to  whose 
smiles  all  heretofore  had  bowed  in  admiring  homage,  now  found  the 
door  of  this  only  refuge  shut  in  her  very  face;  admittance  denied  her 
by  refugees  from  the  Capitol,  who  but  one  short  week  before  had 
courted  her  pleasure  with  servile  obeisance.  Now  angrily  denounc¬ 
ing  herself  and  the  President,  they  bar  the  door  to  the  entrance  of 
the  President’s  wife,  and  only  after  she  had  suffered  unprotected  from 
the  storm  in  the  black  darkness  for  hours,  did  some  relent  enough  to 
remember  the  brutality  of  such  treatment  to  a  woman  and  insist  that 
the  storm-tossed  Dolly  (still  heroic,  even  under  this  outrageous  per¬ 
fidy  in  those  upon  whom  she  had  heaped  favors)  should  receive  the 
shelter  which  common  humanity  would  offer  to  any  houseless  one. 

Brave  Dolly  Madison !  More  a  queen,  in  right  of  your  heroic 
womanhood!  in  that  hour  of  direful  disaster,  risking  your  life  to 
guard  the  sacred  momentos  of  your  country;  storm-tossed  and 
buffeted  by  enemy’s  assault  and  insulted  by  the  treachery  of  per¬ 
fidious  friends!  yet  more  a  royal  Queen,  you  stand  there  in  that 
tempest  and  crucial  trial  of  your  unconquerable  heroism,  than  when 
you  held  your  social  court,  with  imposing  splendor  and  received  the 
adulation  of  the  world.  Dolly  Madison  in  the  salon  was  a  charming, 
fascinating  picture;  but  Dolly  Madison  standing  lion-hearted  amidst 
the  accumulating  calamities  crowding  upon  her  with  their  furious 
onslaught  of  shot  and  shell,  lightnings  and  tempests,  darkness  and 
desertion,  false  friends  and  fierce  enemies,  rises  to  the  terrible  situation 
with  magnificent  sublimity  of  character  and  writes  her  name  far  above 
all  social  queens,  even  among  the  shining  glories  of  the  rank  gained 
by  truly  royal  deeds. 


76 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Mrs.  JAMES  MONROE. 

The  most  fitting  picture  of  Mrs.  James  Monroe  to  place  in  this 
National  Souvenir,  is  strangely  enough  a  picture  with  a  French,  not 
American,  background;  and  yet  in  the  person  of  the  wife  of  the 
American  Ambassador,  America  was  paying  back  part  of  the  debt  of 
gratitude  which  our  country  owed  to  the  heroic  wife  of  Marquis  de 
La  Fayette. 

It  was  during  the  French  Revolution;  La  Fayette  had  been  taken 
prisoner  by  the  Austrians,  and  thrown  into  the  dungeon  at  Olmiitz. 
Madame  La  Fayette  was  also  a  prisoner  at  La  Force.  The  time  had 
already  been  set  for  the  execution  of  Madame  La  Fayette.  The 
American  Minister,  Mr.  Monroe  and  his  wife,  sympathized  deeply 
with  the  unfortunate  La  Fayette  and  his  afflicted  family. 

Recognizing  the  important  position  held  by  the  foreign  ministers 
of  the  American  Republic,  Mr.  Monroe  felt  convinced  that  an  out¬ 
ward  demonstration  of  his  consideration  for  the  La  Fayette  family 
would  either  result  in  a  mitigation  of  the  sentence  hanging  over  the 
heroic  prisoner,  or  hasten  her  final  end.  Weighing  well  the  awful 
consequences  which  might  follow  his  open  espousal  of  the  cause  of 
the  condemned  marchioness,  he  at  length  determined  to  risk  the 
effort,  and  he  consulted  Mrs.  Monroe  regarding  the  plan.  Deeply 
sympathizing  with  his  chivalrous  purpose,  Mrs.  Monroe,  knowing 
full  well  the  dangers  and  difficulties  before  her,  calmly  assured  her 
husband  of  her  ability  to  control  her  words  and  her  emotions,  and 
readily  consented  to  make  a  public  call  upon  the  prisoner,  hoping 
that  this  marked  interest  taken  in  the  unfortunate  marchioness,  by 
one  in  their  official  position,  might  have  due  weight  in  aiding  the 
cause  of  their  agonized  friend. 

Taking  care  that  all  outward  emblems  of  ministerial  rank  should 
not  be  wanting  to  make  her  visit  to  the  prison  the  more  impressive* 
the  carriage  of  the  American  Minister  halted  before  the  dismal  prison, 
much  to  the  astonishment  of  the  bewildered  keeper.  Mrs.  Monroe, 
with  stately  dignity  and  calm  demeanor,  alighted  with  imposing  man¬ 
ner  and  made  known  to  the  jailer  her  errand,  which  was  to  make  a 
call  upon  the  Marquise  de  La  Fayette.  Surprised  at  this  unlooked- 
for  occurrence,  the  prison  official  conducted  Mrs.  Monroe  to  the 


WHAT'  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


77 


reception  room,  while  he  retired  to  make  known  to  the  proper  au¬ 
thorities  this  strange  request.  Left  alone  for  a  few  moments,  Mrs. 
Monroe’s  assumed  indifference  gave  place  to  a  very  natural  quick 
beating  of  the  heart,  and  anxious  suspense,  as  she  listened  to  the 
tread  of  the  jailer,  the  unbarring  of  the  heavy  doors,  and  the  clang 
of  chains,  and  the  portentious  sounds  of  the  sliding  of  pondrous  bolts, 
and  other  blood-curdling  prison  noises.  Long  seemed  the  moments 
ere  the  heavy  steps  drew  nearer,  and  she  had  just  time  to  rally  her 
fainting  heart  and  to  once  again  gain  self-control,  when  the  immense 
door  swung  open  and  before  her  stood,  or  rather  knelt,  her  poor 
emaciated  friend,  too  weak  and  too  terrified  to  articulate  her  joy. 

Heroic  Madame  La  Fayette  !  All  day  she  had  been  expecting  the 
fatal  summons  to  prepare  for  execution,  and  when  the  dread  silence 
of  her  dungeon  was  disturbed  by  the  approach  of  the  gendarmes,  her 
last  hope  was  relinquished.  But  instead  of  that  awful  doom,  she  who 
had  in  years  past  given  her  heart’s  idol  to  the  cause  of  American 
liberty,  now  finds  the  angel  of  her  deliverance  in  the  form  of  her 
American  friend,  though  she  could  not  yet  know  the  momentous  im¬ 
port  of  that  God-given  visit.  The  presence  of  the  sentinels  precluded 
all  conversation,  and  both  ladies  were  too  cautious  to  risk  a  careless 
word.  No  spoken  language  was  needed  to  express  their  fond  inter¬ 
change  of  sympathy  and  gratitude;  France,  through  Madame  La 
Fayette,  had  aided  America,  and  now  America,  through  Mrs. 
Monroe,  repaid  a  small  part  of  that  unpayable  debt.  What  would 
be  the  consequences  of  this  memorable  interview  neither  could  tell, 
but  hope  rose  again  in  the  heart  of  the  despairing  marchioness,  and 
sympathy  shone  through  the  tearful  eyes  of  the  Republic’s  represent¬ 
ative,  personified  by  this  self-sacrificing  woman,  for  she  realized  the 
tremendous  risk  both  she  and  her  husband  ran,  by  this  public 
espousal  of  one  condemned  to  die  by  a  foreign  power. 

The  moments  passed  in  almost  speechless  soul-communing  between 
the  two,  and  Mrs.  Monroe,  feeling  that  her  mission  was  ended,  and 
that  delay  would  be  hazardous,  retired  with  stately  dignity,  assuring 
her  friend,  in  calmly  audible  tones,  which  were  intended  especially 
for  the  listening  sentinels,  that  she  would  again  call  upon  her  on  the 
following  morning;  and  casting  a  lingering  look  of  love  upon  the 
afflicted  prisoner,  which,  quickly  interpreted  by  the  marchioness, 


TIIE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


sent  a  thrill  of  hope  to  her  anguished  heart,  Mrs.  Monroe  withdrew 
from  the  prison,  and  hastened  to  report  the  success  of  her  diplomatic 
and  unselfish  errand. 

The  result  was  as  Mr.  Monroe  had  hoped.  The  unexpected  visit 
of  the  wife  of  the  American  Minister  changed  the  purpose  of  the 
prison  officials,  who  had  already  decided  upon  the  long-delayed  exe¬ 
cution  of  Madame  La  Fayette,  and  that  very  afternoon  she  was  to 
have  been  beheaded.  Recognizing  the  prestige  of  the  young 
Republic,  the  men  then  in  power  in  France  dared  not  sacrifice  a  lady 
in  whose  welfare  the  American  Minister  had  displayed  such  partic¬ 
ular  interest,  and  so  from  motives  of  self-interest,  the  sentence  for  the 
execution  of  Madame  La  Fayette  was  remanded,  and  the  Marquise 
de  La  Fayette  was  liberated  the  next  morning,  greatly  to  the  surprise 
of  everyone  but  the  suffering  prisoner  and  her  American  friends. 

This  noble  deed  of  Mrs.  Monroe  crowns  her  with  a  brighter  fame 
than  even  to  have  borne  the  honor  of  first  lady  of  her  native  land, 
and  though  she  graced  the  White  House  with  courtly  manners, 
and  dignified  presence,  she  cast  a  greater  glory  on  her  country  when 
she  stoQd  in  that  French  prison  as  the  representative  of  her  country’s 
debt  to  the  heroic  wife  of  the  Knight  of  Liberty,  than  by  imposing 
ceremonies  when  mistress  of  the  Executive  Mansion. 


Mrs.  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 

Mrs.  John  Quincy  Adams  was  the  sixth  in  the  succession  of  occu¬ 
pants  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  and  with  her  closed  the  list  of  the 
ladies  of  the  Revolution. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  gives  us  this  glimpse  of  Mrs.  John 
Quincy  Adams: 

“  The  family  at  the  White  House  during  the  John  Quincy  Adams 
administration  was  ideally  rounded  and  complete.  There  were 
wooings  and  weddings,  baby  life  and  christenings  and  nursery  frolics, 
long,  old-fashioned  visits  from  relatives,  quiet  fireside  hours  when 
the  President  read  aloud,  and  Mrs.  Adams  wrote  poems,  and  sang 
to  her  harp,  and  translated  Plato  with  her  sons.  Mrs.  Adams  was, 
perhaps,  the  most  scholarly  of  the  women  who  have  presided  at  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


79 


White  House — we  may  well  suppose  that  the  polished  Mr.  John 
Quincy  Adams  who  complained  of  the  Boston  Belles  that  too  many 
of  them  were  ‘like  a  beautiful  apple  that  is  insipid  to  the  taste,’ 
had  taken  some  care  to  fall  in  love  with  a  young  person  of  mind  and 
culture. 

“This  Presidential  family  had  always  been  in  official  life;  and  we 
can  understand  that  the  pleasure  of  home  and  any  liberty  whatever 
to  pursue  their  personal  tastes  and  inclinations  would  be  looked  upon 
by  them  all  as  privilege  and  luxury. 

“Mr.  Adams  had  gone  abroad  when  only  fourteen  years  of  age  as 
private  secretary  with  our  Minister  to  Russia,  and  Mrs.  Adams  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage  belonged  to  one  of  the  families  of  the  American 
Embassy  in  London,  and  there  followed  ministerial  residences  in 
Berlin,  and  St.  Petersburg,  and  London.  They  returned  to  America 
welcoming  the  prospect  of  republican  forms  of  society,  and  a  more 
individual  life,  both  for  themselves  and  their  children. 

“Although  in  the  opinion  of  the  time  Mrs.  Adams’s  receptions  were 
marvels  of  elegance,  hours  were  kept  at  the  weekly  ‘  drawing-rooms,’ 
which  would  have  suited  the  farm  at  Quincy.  Guests  might  arrive 
at  eight,  but  at  ten  the  lights  were  out  in  the  White  House  parlors.’’ 

Mrs.  John  Quincy  Adams’s  personal  career  was  not  marked  by  the 
heroic  manifestations  of  character  displayed  by  her  husband’s  illus¬ 
trious  mother,  but  the  times  were  not  frought  with  such  stirring 
events,  and  the  second  Mrs.  Adams  in  the  White  House  was  grace¬ 
fully  equal  to  all  the  social  demands  upon  her,  and  her  strong  intel¬ 
lectual  tastes  rendered  her  a  congenial  companion  to  her  distinguished 
husband. 

Both  Mrs.  Andrew  Jackson  and  Mrs.  Martin  Van  Buren  died  be¬ 
fore  the  ascension  of  their  husbands  to  the  office  of  President, 
although  Mrs.  Andrew  Jackson  lived  to  see  her  husband  elected,  but 
died  before  his  inauguration. 

Mrs.  William  Henry  Harrison  never  became  an  inmate  of  the 
White  House,  President  Harrison  having  died  one  month  after  his 
inauguration;  one  tribute  to  the  Christian  character  of  Mrs.  Harrison 
must  be  cited:  “In  1840,  during  the  presidential  canvass,  a  dele¬ 
gation  of  politicians  visited  North  Bend  on  the  Sabbath.  General 
Harrison  met  them  near  his  residence  and  extending  his  hand  said: 


So 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


‘  Gentlemen,  I  should  be  most  nappy  to  welcome  you  on  any  other 
day,  but  if  I  have  no  regard  for  religion  myself,  I  have  too  much 
respect  for  the  religion  of  my  wife  to  encourage  the  violation  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath.’  ” 


Mrs.  JOHN  TYLER. 

Concerning  the  first  wife  of  John  Tyler,  tenth  President  of  the  United 
States,  it  will  be  sufficient  testimony  to  the  worth  of  her  character 
and  the  illustrious  place  due  her  among  the  Wives  of  our  Presidents 
to  quote  from  the  letters  of  her  son,  Major  John  Tyler,  whose  trib¬ 
ute  to  his  remarkable  mother  is  more  befitting  than  any  other  com¬ 
ment: 

“It  not  only  fell  to  her  province  to  superintend  the  domestic 
economy  at  home,  and  to  train  and  educate  her  children,  but  to  be¬ 
stow  no  little  attention  upon  the  affairs  of  the  plantation,  and  to  take 
care  of  and  provide  for  the  negro  families  both  in  sickness  and  health. 
As  gentle  and  delicate  in  person  and  in  health  as  she  always  was,  she 
never  shrank  for  a  moment  from  these  complicated,  exacting,  and 
often  harassing  duties  and  responsibilities.  Her  native  benevolence 
and  active  generosity,  combined  with  her  high  moral  and  intellectual 
training,  and  high  sense  of  conjugal  fidelity,  impelled  and  sustained 
her  unflinchingly  in  the  resolute  purpose  of  sustaining  her  husband 
in  the  field  of  his  arduous  labors  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  so  that 
he  should  not  sink  through  poverty,  nor  be  compelled  to  abdicate 
the  glorious  career  before  him  by  the  stern  requirements  of  his  do¬ 
mestic  affairs. 

“It  was  never  the  habit  of  our  family,  during  my  mother’s  life, 
to  make  ‘a-to-do’  about  anything  personal  to  ourselves;  and  noisy, 
fussy,  and  arrogant  assumption  and  pretension  were  always  regarded 
by  us  as  alike  indecorous,  opposed  to  good  taste,  and  violative  of 
self-respect.  We  have  generally  considered  it  best  to  leave  it  to 
others  to  speak  to  our  merits  while  living,  and  to  assign  to  their 
proper  place  the  virtuous  memories  of  our  dead.  Neither  my 
mother  nor  my  father  would  ever  permit  in  the  family  the  slightest 
expression  of  ancestral  pride,  though  sedulous  m  impressing  upon 
the  minds  of  all  around  them  the  more  elevated  sentiments  and  noble 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


8r 


actions  of  their  progenitors,  seeking,  as  it  were,  to  sanctify  through 
the  aid  and  quality  of  veneration  the  recollection  of  things  worthy  of 
imitation.  We  were  especially  taught — apart  from  the  common 
training  of  every-day  life,  and  the  usual  lessons  of  diligence  and  in¬ 
dustry — that  honor  and  fame  attach  themselves  to  no  particular  con¬ 
dition  in  life,  that  mere  exterior  circumstances  cannot  confer  either 
real  character  or  true  respectability;  that  a  palace  cannot  add  to,  nor 
a  log-cabin  detract  from,  substantial  worth;  that  the  man  is  actually 
within  and  not  without;  that  a  christianized  heart — in  respect  not  less 
to  the  individual  than  to  the  universal — a  cultivated  mind,  the  refine¬ 
ment  of  the  sentiments,  the  feelings  and  the  affections,  the  consci¬ 
entious  performance  of  duty  as  defined  in  the  commandments  of  God 
and  Christ,  and  explained  by  St.  Paul,  and  reverence  for  the  laws, 
together  with  gentle  manners  and  delicate  courtesies,  were  incom¬ 
parably  preferable  to  wealth,  official  dignities,  and  worldly  displays; 
that  wealth  itself,  though  a  great  blessing  when  directed  to  proper, 
laudable,  and  gracious  ends,  should  never  be  viewed  in  any  stronger 
light  than  as  a  secondary  object,  and  never  be  pursued  as  a  primary 
consideration. 

“All  the  education  and  learning  I  possess  that  I  esteem  valuable 
and  worthy  to  be  treasured,  I  may  say  I  derived  from  my  mother. 
It  was  through  her  teachings  that  I  became  finally  impressed  with 
the  vast  ethical  superiority  of  the  internal  over  the  external  relations 
attendant  upon  our  existence,  and  with  the  preference  that  should  be 
accorded  to  the  ‘  ab  inlra ,  ad  extra'  or  spiritualistic  system  of  phi¬ 
losophy  over  the  ‘  ab  extra  ad  intra,  ’  or  materialistic  system ;  the 
first  being  that  of  Christ,  and  the  last  that  of  the  ‘  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil.’ 

‘  ‘  It  was  my  task  to  take  her  out,  in  some  light  carriage,  upon  her 
rounds  of  charity  among  the  sick  and  afflicted  of  her  neighborhood. 
She  would,  on  these  occasions,  first  recall  the  names  and  localities  of 
all  individuals  and  families  that  she  had  learned  to  be  in  want,  in  dis¬ 
tress,  or  ill,  and  requiring  a  nursing  hand.  Then  she  would  store  in 
baskets,  tea,  sugar,  coffee,  light  bread,  and  delicate  provisions  and 
preserves,  together  with  proper  medicines,  and  with  me  as  her  coach¬ 
man  and  guide  start  upon  her  mission. 

“She  invariably  entered  the  house  or  hut  in  person,  however 


82 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


humble  and  poor  the  inmates  and  whatever  the  form  of  sickness,  and 
her  words  and  manner  were  always  as  comforting  as  her  food  and 
medicines  and  beverages  were  healing  and  nourishing.  I  never 
knew  her  in  conversation,  under  any  circumstances,  not  even  in  the 
presence  of  the  clergyman  of  her  parish,  to  allude  to  these  habitual 
benevolences.  In  fact,  even  in  the  family  it  was  more  frequently 
supposed  she  had  merely  ‘  gone  an  airing  ’  than  otherwise. 

“  There  is  a  trifle  that  rests,  I  believe,  alone  in  my  memory,  and 
the  seal  upon  which  I  have  never  broken;  but  which,  trifling  as  it 
may  be  regarded,  well  illustrates  the  conscientious  impulses  of  her 
nature  to  acts  of  kindness.  On  one  occasion,  during  my  father’s 
absence  on  public  duty,  about  twilight,  on  a  very  cold  evening,  a 
man  with  a  pack  on  his  back  walked  up  to  the  front  door  of  our 
residence  and  knocked.  I  answered  his  call.  He  wished  to  be 
sheltered  for  the  night  and  asked  for  something  to  eat.  My  mother 
directed  me  at  once  to  take  him  to  the  dining-room,  where  was  a 
good  fire,  and  have  food  set  before  him.  She  never  turned  away 
any  such  applicants.  When  the  hour  for  retiring  came,  he  was  con¬ 
ducted  by  our  waiting  man,  then  styled  the  dining-room  servant,  to 
a  bed-room  and  assigned  a  comfortable  bed.  The  next  morning 
without  waiting  for  breakfast,  he  had  started  on  his  journey.  My 
good  mother  seemed  for  a  moment  hurt  that  he  should  have  gone 
without  his  breakfast,  but  quickly  directed  me  to  send  the  ser¬ 
vant  man  to  her.  She  then  took  from  her  purse  the  last  piece  of 
money  she  had  left  in  the  house,  a  silver  half-dollar,  and  dispatched 
the  servant  on  horseback  after  the  man  with  orders  to  catch  up  with 
him  and  give  it  to  him  to  ‘  help  him  on  his  way,’  and  it  was  done. 
“On  Sunday  morning,  the  next  after  my  mother’s  death,  having 
seen  her  spirit  depart  the  evening  before,  afflicted  with  grief,  ex¬ 
hausted,  and  feverish,  I  walked  out  alone  in  the  yard  around  the 
south  front  of  the  President’s  Mansion.  It  was  quite  early,  and  I 
was  somewhat  surprised  to  find  that  which  I  had  never  before  ob¬ 
served  in  the  grounds,  as  they  were  regarded  as  entirely  private  to 
the  President’s  family,  save  on  stated  occasions;  numbers  of  poor 
women  all  with  mournful  countenances.  Passing  by  one  of  the 
groups,  some  remark  was  made  respecting  her  death,  and  I  heard 
the  sobbing  reply:  ‘Yes,  she  is  dead,  and  the  poor  have  lost  their 
friend !  ’  ” 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


83 


Mrs.  JAMES  K.  POLK. 

After  the  election  of  James  K.  Polk  to  the  Presidency,  among 
other  items  published  concerning  Mrs.  Polk,  the  following  comment 
appeared  in  one  of  the  Southwestern  journals,  which  sums  up  the 
character  and  qualities  of  Mrs.  Polk,  in  a  fair  and  just  estimate: 

‘  ‘  This  lady  is  one  of  the  most  sensible,  refined  and  accomplished 
of  her  sex,  and  will  adorn  the  White  House  at  Washington,  over 
which  she  is  destined  to  preside,  with  distinguished  honor  to  her 
country.  All  who  have  mingled  in  her  society  know  well  how  to 
appreciate  the  gracefulness  of  her  disposition.  We  have  seen  few 
women  who  have  developed  more  of  the  true  republican  character¬ 
istics  of  the  American  lady.  She  has  had  her  admirers  not  only  in 
the  highest,  but  in  the  humblest  walks  of  life.  The  poor  know  her 
for  her  benevolence;  the  rich  for  the  plainness  of  her  equipage;  the 
church  for  her  consistency;  the  unfortunate  for  her  charities;  and 
society  itself  for  the  veneration  and  respect  which  her  virtues  have 
everywhere  awarded  her.  We  feel  proud  that  the  Southwest  can 
boast  of  such  a  noble  offspring.” 


Mrs.  ZACHARY  TAYLOR. 

Laura  Carter  Holloway,  in  her  book  entitled;  “  The  Ladies  of  the 
White  House,”  thus  sketches  Mrs.  Taylor: 

“  Mrs.  Taylor,  more  than  any  other  mistress  of  the  White  House, 
had  seen  more  army  service,  and  passed  through  more  varied 
frontier  experiences;  for  she  would  never,  under  any  circumstances, 
if  she  could  avoid  it,  separate  herself  from  her  husband,  no  matter 
how  severe  were  the  trials  resulting  from  wifely  devotion.  This 
heroic  spirit,  that  gives  such  grace  and  beauty  to  useful  qualities, 
carried  her  cheerfully  to  Tampa  Bay,  that  she  might  be  near  her 
husband  when  he  was  endeavoring  to  suppress  the  wily  Seminoles  in 
the  swamps  and  everglades  of  Florida.  It  was  looked  upon  at  the 
time  as  a  piece  of  unpardonable  recklessness  that  she  should  thus 
risk  her  life,  when  to  the  outward  world  the  odds  at  the  time  seemed 
to  be  against  her  husband’s  success.  But  she  evidently  knew  his 


84 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


character  and  her  own  duty  best,  and  through  the  lasting  struggle,, 
made  so  terrible  and  romantic  by  the  incidents  of  the  battle  of  Okee- 
Chobee,  Mrs.  Taylor  was  of  immense  service  in  superintending  the 
wants  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  but  more  especially  so  by  shedding 
over  disaster  the  hopefulness  created  by  her  self-possession  and 
insensibility  to  the  probability  of  the  failure  of  her  husband’s  final 
triumph  over  the  enemy. 

“Through  all  these  trying  circumstances  Mrs.  Taylor,  by  her 
good  sense,  her  modesty,  her  uncomplaining  spirit,  her  faculty  of 
adding  to  the  comforts  and  surroundings  of  her  husband’s  life, 
filled  the  measure  of  her  duty  and  set  an  example  of  the  true 
woman,  especially  a  soldier’s  wife,  that  her  sex  for  all  time  can 
admire  and  point  to  as  worthy  of  imitation.  To  her  attentions  to 
her  husband  the  country  was  largely  indebted  for  his  usefulness,  and 
by  her  influence  and  example  the  subordinates  who  were  attached  to 
the  pioneer  army,  were  made  contented  and  uncomplaining.’’ 

After  the  inauguration  of  General  Taylor  as  President,  and  the 
removal  of  his  family  to  Washington,  Mrs.  Taylor  resigned  in  most 
part  the  duties  and  honors  of  the  official  position  as  mistress  of  the 
White  House  to  her  handsome  and  high-spirited  daughter,  Miss 
Betty,  who  filled  her  place  as  Lady  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  with 
as  much  tact  and  affability  as  her  mother  had  displayed  as  soldier’s 
wife;  but  the  sudden  death  of  President  Taylor  brought  to  an 
unexpected  close  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Taylor  and  her  daughter  in 
Washington. 


Mrs.  MILLARD  FILLMORE. 

Of  Mrs.  Millard  Fillmore,  her  husband  has  left  on  record  her  best 
eulogium;  after  her  death  he  said  of  her: 

“  For  twenty-seven  years,  my  entire  married  life,  I  was  always 
greeted  with  a  happy  smile.” 

In  the  struggles  of  their  young  married  life,  Abigail  Powers 
Fillmore,  carried  into  the  humble  house  built  by  her  husband’s 
hands,  he  being  then  a  poor  unknown  lawyer;  the  ambition  and 
activity  of  mind  and  body,  which  wavered  at  no  obstacles,  despaired 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


85 


at  no  reverse.  Whilst  performing  in  this  lowly  home,  the  duties  ol 
maid-of-all-work,  housekeeper  and  hostess,  she  yet  found  time  to 
resume  her  former  occupation  of  teaching  to  eke  out  their  slender 
income. 

Such  was  her  early  married  life;  of  her  after  life  in  the  White 
House  a  friend  writes: 

“  The  retiring  modesty  of  manner  so  inseparable  from  the  idea  of 
a  perfect  lady,  was  eminently  characteristic  of  Mrs.  Fillmore. 

While  she  was  a  woman  of  strong  common  sense  her  tastes  were 
highly  refined.  Especially  was  she  fond  of  music  and  flowers. 
Her  love  for  the  former  received  great  gratification  from  her 
daughter’s  musical  attainments,  and  her  fondness  for  flowers 
amounted  to  a  passion,  and  much  of  her  time  in  her  own  home  was 
devoted  to  their  care  and  culture. 

‘ 1  Mrs.  Fillmore  read  much  and  carefully,  and  being  possessed  of 
excellent  powers  of  observation,  was  consequently  a  well-informed 
and  cultivated  woman.  When  Mr.  Fillmore  entered  the  White 
House,  he  found  it  entirely  destitute  of  books.  Mrs.  Fillmore  was 
accustomed  to  be  surrounded  with  books  of  reference,  maps  and  all 
the  acquirements  of  a  well  furnished  library.  To  meet  this  want, 
Mr.  Fillmore  asked  of  Congress  and  received  an  appropriation  and 
selected  a  library,  for  which  addition  to  the  White  House,  its 
inmates  are  indebted  to  Mrs.  Fillmore.” 


Mrs.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 

Mrs.  Pierce  was  a  woman  of  quiet  tastes,  delicate  organization,  and 
little  worldly  ambition.  Outside  of  her  own  home  sphere  she  had  no 
desire  to  shine,  or  be  known.  Entering  the  White  House  after  the 
bitter  loss  of  all  her  children,  the  applause  of  the  world  was  of  little 
moment  to  her,  and  her  quiet  influence  was  always  exerted  to  lift  the 
minds  of  those  around  her  to  higher  standards  of  spiritual  thought. 
It  is  recorded  of  her:  ‘‘  Her  pious  scruples  regarding  the  keeping 
of  the  Sabbath  were  marked  characteristics.  Each  Sunday  morning 
of  her  four  years’  stay  in  the  White  House,  she  would  request,  in 
her  gentle,  conciliatory  way,  all  the  attaches  of  the  Mansion  to  go 


86 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


to  church,  and  on  their  return,  would  make  pleasant  inquiries  of  what 
they  had  heard.  ‘  Many  a  time,’  remarked  Mr.  Webster,  the  pri¬ 
vate  secretary,  ‘  have  I  gone  from  respect  to  her,  when,  if  left  to  my 
own  choice,  I  should  have  remained  in  the  house.’  In  her  unob¬ 
trusive  way,  ever  thoughtful  of  the  happiness  of  those  about  her,  she 
diverted  their  minds  to  the  elevated  and  spiritual,  and  sought  in  her 
own  life  to  be  a  guide  for  the  young  with  whom  she  was  thrown. 
How  rare  are  these  exquisite  organizations,  and  how  little  do  we 
know  of  them,  even  though  they  have  lived  in  our  midst,  and  formed 
a  part  of  us!  Awhile  they  linger  here  to  learn  the  way  to  brighter 
spheres,  and  when  they  vanish,  naught  is  left  but  a  memory  fragrant 
with  the  rich  perfume  of  a  beautiful,  unselfish  life.” 

Miss  Harriet  Lane  (afterwards  Mrs.  Johnston),  was  the  lady  of  the 
White  House  during  the  administration  of  her  bachelor  uncle,  James 
Buchanan. 

She  filled  the  place  with  great  affability,  and  dispensed  the  hospi¬ 
tality  of  the  President’s  mansion  with  rare  grace  and  faultless 
decorum. 

Mrs.  Abraham  Lincoln  entered  the  White  House  at  a  time  of  tur¬ 
moil  and  national  confusion,  and  left  it  under  dreadful  personal  be¬ 
reavement,  occasioned  by  the  inhuman  assassination  of  her  illustrious 
husband;  whereby  her  life  was  hopelessly  blighted  and  went  out  in 
overwhelming  sorrow.  It  seems  indecorous  and  cruel  to  turn  the  eye 
of  public  scrutiny  upon  the  personal  history  of  one  subjected  to  such 
unkind  calumnies,  and  bitter  party  accusations  at  a  national  period  of 
civil  war  and  upheaval.  Abraham  Lincoln’s  immortal  glory  in  our 
country’s  history  must  forever  shield  his  wife  from  personal  criticism, 
and  naught  but  reverence  towards  her  who  bore  his  honored  name, 
is  befitting  the  women  of  America,  owing  so  much  to  the  great  Ab¬ 
raham  Lincoln.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  woman  could  be  placed 
in  Mrs.  Lincoln’s  position,  in  such  an  epoch  of  war  and  party  hatred 
and  not  be  so  belied  by  bitter  scandal  as  to  incur  the  most  unkind 
comments  of  political  enemies,  however  little  it  was  either  merited,  or 
had  any  foundation  in  truth. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


87 


Mrs.  ANDREW  JOHNSON. 

Laura  Carter  Holloway,  says  of  Mrs.  Andrew  Johnson: 

“  It  is  a  mistaken  idea  that  she  taught  her  husband  his  letters;  for 
in  the  dim  shadows  of  the  workshop  at  Raleigh,  after  the  toil  of  the 
day  was  over,  he  had  mastered  the  alphabet  and  made  himself  gen¬ 
erally  acquainted  with  the  construction  of  words  and  sentences. 
The  incentive  to  acquire  mental  attainment  was  certainly  enhanced 
when  he  felt  the  superiority  of  her  acquirements,  and  from  that  time 
his  heroic  nature  began  to  discover  itself.  The  youthful  couple 
studied  together,  in  the  silent  watches  of  the  night,  she  ofttimes 
reading  as  he  completed  the  weary  task  before  him,  oftener  still 
bending  over  him  to  guide  his  hand  in  writing.  He  never  had  the 
benefit  of  one  day’s  school  routine  in  his  life,  yet  he  acquired  by 
perseverance  the  benefits  denied  by  poverty.  The  young  wife, 
thrifty  and  industrious  all  day,  worked  patiently  and  hopefully  as 
night  brought  her  pupil  again  to  his  studies,  and  punctually  she 
completed  her  housewifely  duties,  that  she  might  be  ready  for  the 
never- varying  rule  of  their  lives.  Much  of  latent  powers  did  he  owe 
to  her  indefatigable  zeal  and  encouragement,  when  the  mighty 
scintillations  of  natural  genius  first  began  to  dawn,  which  ultimately 
converted  the  tailor  boy  into  the  senator,  and  subsequently  into  the 
President  of  his  country.  ’  ’ 

Mrs.  Johnson’s  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Patterson  and  Mrs.  Stover, 
took  her  official  position  at  the  White  House,  as  her  delicate  health 
rendered  her  a  confirmed  invalid.  The  honor  due  Mrs.  Johnson,  is 
founded  not  upon  social  distinction,  but  upon  her  sterling  worth  of 
mind  and  character. 


Mrs.  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT. 

Although  Mrs.  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  in  answer  to  earnest  solicitation, 
has  been  so  kind  as  to  favor  this  Souvenir  with  her  delightful  auto¬ 
biographical  sketch,  it  is  proper  that  brief  notice  of  Mrs.  Grant  should 
also  appear  here,  among  the  names  of  the  Wives  of  the  Presidents;  in 
view  of  the  honor  due  to  both  Mrs.  Grant  and  her  illustrious  husband, 
who  achieved  more  world- wide  fame  than  any  President  of  the  United 


88 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


States,  being  the  only  President  who  was  the  personal  recipient  of 
foreign  homage  from  all  the  great  nations  of  the  globe.  Mrs. 
Grant’s  tribute  to  her  honored  husband,  in  her  felicitous  sketch,  is 
touched  with  a  delicacy  that  reveals  the  radiant  light  of  a  mutual 
love,  which  sheds  an  unfading  glory  over  the  pages  in  history  where 
their  illustrious  names  are  indissolubly  entwined. 

1  he  following  lines  quoted  from  “The  Personal  Memoirs,”  of 
General  Grant,  will  reveal  the  earnest  sympathy  of  Mrs.  Grant  with 
her  husband’s  patriotic  devotion  to  his  country’s  service.  General 
Grant  writes: 

“  When  I  left  Galena  for  the  last  time  to  take  command  of  the 
2 ist  regiment,  I  took  with  me  my  oldest  son,  Frederick  D.  Grant, 
then  a  lad  of  eleven  years  of  age.  On  receiving  the  order  to  take 
rail  for  Quincy,  I  wrote  to  Mrs.  Grant,  to  relieve  what  I  supposed 
would  be  her  great  anxiety  for  one  so  young  going  into  danger,  that 
I  would  send  Fred  home  from  Quincy  by  river.  I  received  a 
prompt  letter  in  reply,  decidedly  disapproving  my  proposition,  and 
urging  that  the  lad  should  be  allowed  to  accompany  me.  It  came 
too  late.  Fred  was  already  on  his  way  up  the  Mississippi,  bound  for 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  from  which  place  there  was  a  railroad  to  Galena-” 

General  Grant  has  sketched  in  a  simple  and  frank  manner  the 
story  of  the  hardships  of  their  early  married  life.  It  will  not  be 
amiss  to  quote  here  his  own  account.  General  Grant  writes: 

“  My  family  all  this  while  was  at  the  East.  It  consisted  now  of  a 
wife  and  two  children.  I  saw  no  chance  of  supporting  them  on  the 
Pacific  coast  out  of  my  pay  as  an  army  officer.  I  concluded,  there¬ 
fore,  to  resign,  and  in  March  applied  for  a  leave  of  absence  until  the 
end  of  the  July  following;  tendering  my  resignation  to  take  effect  at 
the  end  of  that  time.  In  the  late  summer  of  1854  I  rejoined  my 
family,  to  find  in  it  a  son  whom  I  had  never  seen,  born  while  I  was 
on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  I  was  now  to  commence  at  the  age  of 
thirty-two,  a  new  struggle  for  our  support.  My  wife  had  a  farm 
near  St.  Louis,  to  which  we  went,  but  I  had  no  means  to  stock  it. 
A  house  had  to  be  built  also.  I  worked  very  hard,  never  losing  a 
day  because  of  bad  weather,  and  accomplished  the  object  in  a 
moderate  way.  If  nothing  could  be  done  I  would  load  a  cord  of 
wood  on  a  wagon  and  take  it  to  the  city  for  sale. 


WHA  T  AMERICA  O  IVES  TO '  WOMAN. 


89 


I  managed  to  keep  along  very  well  until  1858,  when  I  was  at¬ 
tacked  by  fever  and  ague.  It  lasted  over  a  year,  and,  while  it  did 
not  keep  me  in  the  house,  it  did  interfere  greatly  with  the  amount  of 
work  I  was  able  to  perform.  In  the  fall  of  1858  I  sold  out  my  stock, 
crops,  and  farming  utensils  at  auction,  and  gave  up  farming. 

‘  ‘  In  the  winter  I  established  a  partnership  with  Harry  Boggs,  a 
cousin  of  Mrs.  Grant,  in  the  real  estate  agency  business.  I  spent 
that  winter  at  St.  Louis  myself,  but  did  not  take  my  family  into  town 
until  the  spring.  Our  business  might  have  become  prosperous  if  I 
had  been  able  to  wait  for  it  to  grow.  As  it  was,  there  was  no  more 
than  one  person  could  attend  to,  and  not  enough  to  support  two 
families.  I  withdrew  from  the  co-partnership  with  Boggs,  and,  in 
May,  i860,  removed  to  Galena,  Ill.,  and  took  a  clerkship  in  my 
father’s  store.” 

From  this  humble  beginning  Mrs.  Grant  lived  to  become  the  First 
Lady  of  the  Land,  and  to  have  honors  and  riches  showered  upon  her. 
In  a  recent  sketch  of  Mrs.  Grant,  among  the  ‘‘Widows  of  Famous 
Men,”  appears  the  following  comment: 

“  Naturally  the  widow  of  General  Grant  attracts  first  attention.  The 
position  of  her  husband  made  her  a  figure  of  first  prominence  in  our 
republican  court,  and  since  his  death  public  interest  has  attached  to 
her  no  less  strongly.  For  several  years  after  General  Grant’s  death 
Mrs.  Grant  continued  to  live  in  New  York  City,  in  the  house  that 
was  owned  by  the  general.  There  Mrs.  Grant  lived  in  the  centre  of 
society  and  yet  not  in  it.  She  never  had  much  inclination  for  the 
formalities  of  fashionable  social  life,  but  her  house  was  always  open 
to  the  friends  of  her  happier  days,  and  to  General  Grant’s  old  mili¬ 
tary  associates  as  well  as  the  public  men  who  were  leaders  with  him 
during  his  civil  career,  who  were  always  welcome  there;  and  for  the 
old  soldiers,  Mrs.  Grant  always  had  a  deep  and  abiding  regard. 
For  the  serious  occupation  of  life,  Mrs.  Grant  has  been  busy  with 
the  preparation  of  her  reminiscences  of  her  great  husband’s  life  and 
career,  dealing,  it  is  understood,  more  with  the  domestic  side  of 
General  Grant’s  life,  than  any  biography  that  has  yet  been  published. 

“  Mrs.  Grant  has  had  a  life  full  of  romance,  paralleled  by  that  of 
few  American  women.  She  was  in  the  best  sense  the  companion,  as 
well  as  the  wife  of  General  Grant.  All  during1  the  war  she  was  near 


go 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


him  whenever  the  exigencies  of  service  would  permit  her  to  share 
his  privations.  Her  life  in  the  White  House  was  altogether  enjoy¬ 
able,  and  she  accompanied  General  Grant  in  his  famous  journey 
around  the  world.  As  she  said  of  herself:  1  Having  learned  a 
lesson  from  my  predecessor  Penelope,  I  accompanied  my  Ulysses  in 
his  wanderings  around  the  world.’  ” 


Mrs.  RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES. 

It  seems  most  fitting  that  the  nation’s  tribute  of  grateful  praise 
should  furnish  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  in  this  Na¬ 
tional  Souvenir.  As  I  examine  the  interesting  material  gathered  in 
the  various  memorials  of  her  life,  I  feel  that  a  nation’s  tribute  is  more 
worthy  of  a  place  here  than  any  brief  biographical  sketch. 

She,  “  being  dead,  yet  speaketh,”  and  it  seems  not  inappropriate 
that  we  give  here  a  few  sentences  culled  from  some  of  the  addresses 
made  by  Mrs.  Hayes  at  the  various  annual  meetings  of  the  Woman’s 
Home  Missionary  Society,  of  which  she  was  president.  My  purpose 
in  giving  these  extracts  here,  is  to  reveal  her  lofty  convictions  and  her 
far-sighted  conceptions  of  the  religious  needs  of  this  country;  and 
that  her  life  was  a  practical  illustration  of  her  precepts,  these  gath¬ 
ered  tributes  to  her  memory,  which  we  have  selected,  will  confirm, 
bearing  testimony  to  her  harmonious  character  and  unselfish  life. 

Probably  no  woman  in  America  was  personally  known  to  so  many 
citizens  in  all  parts  of  our  country  as  Mrs.  Hayes,  for  she  had  visited 
with  her  husband  every  part  of  the  United  States;  and  every  man, 
woman  or  child  coming  within  the  atmosphere  of  her  personal  influ¬ 
ence,  received  lasting  impressions  regarding  the  genuineness  of  her 
character,  and  the  steadfast  purpose  of  her  daily  deeds  and  helpful 
words. 

Mrs.  Hayes’  religion  did  not  consist  in  self-righteous  cant,  nor 
Pharisaical  criticisms  upon  the  lives  of  others.  Her  model  was 
Christ,  her  gospel  the  Golden  Rule.  She  did  not  demand  from 
others  conformity  to  her  personal  convictions,  but  she  acted  upon  her 
God-given  right  to  regulate  her  life  along  those  lines  of  conduct 
which  best  harmonized  with  her  individual  convictions  of  duty. 


/ 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


91 


The  United  States  can  claim  the  benefit  of  her  exalted  influence, 
but  Ohio  enrolls  her  among  its  illustrious  daughters,  as  she  was  born 
and  educated  in  that  state.  She  was  born  in  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  Au¬ 
gust  28th,  1831:  died  at  Spiegel  Grove,  Fremont,  Ohio,  June  25th, 
1889.  Mrs.  Hayes’  grandfather,  Judge  Isaac  Cook,  and  all  four  of 
her  great-grandfathers  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

In  the  memorial  oration  of  Hon.  J.  D.  Taylor,  M.  C.,  is  this  tribute 
to  Lucy  Webb  Hayes: 

“  In  America,  where  this  ideal  woman  was  so  well  known,  and  where 
she  was  so  closely  identified  with  works  of  charity  and  benevolence, 
when  the  electric  flash  carried  the  sad  news  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Lucy 
Webb  Hayes  across  the  continent,  a  great  nation  and  a  great  people 
were  in  deepest  grief.  It  is  difficult  to  realize  how  much  real  cour¬ 
age  was  necessary  to  take  and  to  hold  the  advanced  position  occupied 
by  Mrs.  Hayes.  It  may  seem  easy  now  when  the  battle  has  been 
fought,  and  when  the  victory  has  been  won,  but  when  the  pathway 
of  politics  and  policy  seemed  to  lead  one  way,  and  the  path  of  duty 
the  other,  and  all  eyes  were  upon  her,  it  took  both  courage  and  con¬ 
science  to  decide  these  questions  as  she  decided  them.  To  carry  into 
the  Presidential  Mansion  her  ideas  and  aspirations,  her  view  of  life 
and  mother-hood,  to  discard  obtrusive  etiquette,  and  adhere  to  her 
high  convictions  of  duty,  required  undaunted  heroism  as  well  as  relig¬ 
ious  faith.” 

In  her  modest  way  Mrs.  Hayes  thus  stated  to  a  friend  her  per¬ 
sonal  convictions  regarding  her  stand  in  the  White  House:  “  When 
I  came  to  Washington  I  had  three  sons  just  coming  to  manhood, 
and  starting  out  in  society,  and  I  did  not  feel  as  if  I  could  be  the 
first  to  put  the  wine  cup  to  their  lips,  and  set  an  example  that  would 
only  too  often  be  followed.” 

“  At  a  reception  in  Washington  City,  a  number  of  intelligent  ladies 
were  discoursing  upon  the  influence  of  the  White  House  upon  the 
domestic  life  of  the  country.  All  the  diverse  drifts  of  opinion  seemed 
to  return  to  Mrs.  Hayes,  as  the  typical  mistress,  and  an  analysis  of 
her  powers  and  methods  ensued.  The  secret  of  that  ever-fresh  and 
simple  feeling  which  seemed  to  make  common  cause  with  all  ages, 
classes  and  times,  was  the  problem,  when  one  lady  remarked:  ‘We 
all  receive  from  the  people  of  the  world  just  what  we  bring  to  them.’ 


92 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


‘  Mrs.  Hayes  brought  love  to  all.  No  mere  affectation  of  love,  but  a 
genuine  feeling  of  interest.  No  individual  or  class  of  individuals  was 
indifferent,  uninteresting  or  repulsive.  She  looked  beyond  the  acci¬ 
dents  of  dress,  position,  or  circumstance,  and  saw  in  every  one  a 
human  interest;  she  stood  on  the  high  plane  of  noble  kinship  to  all, 
and  this  divine  truth  was  expressed  in  her  simplicity.’  ” 

From  several  published  addresses  delivered  by  Mrs.  Hayes  at 
various  annual  meetings  of  the  Woman’s  Home  Missionary  Society, 
of  which  Mrs.  Hayes  was  president,  the  following  extracts  are 
taken: 

“  Our  field  of  usefulness  is  of  great  extent.  Our  home  population 
embraces  elements  more  or  less  extensive  of  every  important  race, 
nationality  and  language.  They  are  of  all  conditions,  material,  in¬ 
tellectual  and  moral. 

“Coming  originally  from  every  part  of  the  world,  they  are  here 
seated  in  the  midst  of  this  central  continent,  which  looks  out  from 
widely  extended  coasts  and  almost  countless  harbors  upon  the  two 
oceans  on  which  is  carried  the  larger  part  of  the  commerce  of  the  globe. 
By  the  agencies  of  our  advancing  civilization,  in  the  near  future, 
this  people  will  surely  wield  a  commanding  influence  in  the  affairs, 
in  the  education  and  in  the  religion  of  all  mankind. 

“  The  inspiring  and  attractive  field  which  invites  our  efforts  is  the 
home.  First  in  importance  and  first  in  number  are  the  homes  of  the 
uninformed,  destitute  and  unfortunate  of  our  own  race — those  of  our 
own  kith  and  kin.  To  these  we  must  add  the  just  claims  of  the 
lately  emancipated  people  and  their  posterity,  of  the  Indians,  of  the 
Mormons,  of  the  Spanish  Americans,  and  of  the  Chinese  now  within 
our  borders — all  of  whom,  it  has  been  well  said,  have  claims  upon 
us  for  Christian  civilization  not  to  be  surpassed  by  those  of  the 
heathen  of  foreign  lands. 

“  We  believe  that  the  character  of  a  people  depends  mainly  on  its 
homes.  Our  special  aim  therefore  is  to  improve  home  environments, 
home  education,  home  industries  and  home  influences. 

“We -wish  to  strive  for  the  attainment  of  these  worthy  ends  by 
means  upon  which  we  can,  with  an  assured  hope,  conscientiously 
invoke  the  Divine  blessing. 

“  This  is  indeed  the  work  of  the  Divine  Master,  whose  example 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


93 


and  teachings  all  wish  to  imitate  and  heed  who  hope  in  their  own 
lives  to  realize  the  blessings  and  consolations  of  that  religion  which 
He  came  into  the  world  to  establish. 

“  The  corner-stone  to  practical  religion  is  the  Golden  Rule.  How 
best  to  obey  its  mandate  is  the  vital  question.  Our  conviction,  our 
faith  is,  that  the  surest  hope  of  mankind  is  in  America.  Within  our 
limits,  within  our  reach,  are  gathered  representatives  of  all  the  races 
of  mankind. 

“  That  duty  is  of  highest  obligation  which  is  nearest  in  time  and 
place.  With  America  and  American  homes  what  they  should  be, 
we  need  not  greatly  fear  the  evils  that  threaten  us  from  other  lands. 
We  can  easily  shun  or  safely  meet  them,  if  our  duty  is  faithfully  done 
in  behalf  of  the  weak,  the  ignorant,  and  the  needy  of  our  own  country. 
If  our  institutions,  social  and  political,  are  imperiled  to-day,  it  is 
largely  because  the  wealthy  and  the  fortunate,  engrossed  as  they  are 
in  the  midst  of  our  vast  material  progress  and  prosperity,  are  not 
sufficiently  mindful  of  what  was  taught  by  the  words  and  life  of  the 
Founder  of  our  blessed  religion:  ‘Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them.’ 

“  The  friends  of  Home  Missions  rely  on  familiar  facts.  Not  less 
than  five  millions  of  people  are  now  added  to  the  population  of  our 
country  in  each  ten  years  by  emigration  from  foreign  lands.  Among 
them  are  no  doubt  persons  of  education,  of  morality  and  of  religion, 
who,  in  spite  of  want  of  familiarity  with  our  language  and  institutions, 
will  in  good  time  become  valuable  citizens  without  special  effort  in 
their  behalf.  As  to  a  multitude  of  others,  it  may  be  truly  said  that 
the  missionary  to  pagan  lands  will  find  nothing  more  hostile  to 
Christian  civilization  than  the  evil  influences  which  immigration 
brings  into  the  very  bosom  of  our  American  society.  Home  Missions 
seek  to  protect  our  own  land  from  imported  heathenism.  Again,  the 
condition  of  the  emancipated  race  in  our  Southern  States  still  engages 
the  attention  of  the  patriot  and  philanthropist.  It  is  represented  by 
well-informed  and  conscientious  observers  that  the  colored  people 
increase  more  rapidly  than  the  whites  in  proportion  to  their  number, 
and  that  the  proportion  of  the  ignorant  and  unchristian  does  not 
diminish.  The  facts  do  not  permit  us  to  indulge  the  hope  that  the 
Christians  of  America  have  done  and  are  doing  their  whole  duty  with 


94 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


respect  to  the  Africans  within  our  own  borders  and  at  our  own 
doors. 

“  Never  before  was  the  progress  of  settlement  in  our  new  States 
and  territories  so  rapid  as  it  is  now.  The  people  are  unable  to  sup¬ 
port  ministers,  but  they  need  the  gospel,  and  wish  to  have  it 
preached  among  them.  The  Indians  still  claim  our  attention.  But 
I  have  said  enough  to  indicate  the  number  and  magnitude  of  the  de¬ 
mands  for  missions  in  our  own  country.  The  claims  of  missionary 
work  whose  aim  is  the  improvement  of  Americam  homes  are  attrac¬ 
tive  and  urgent.  Homes  such  as  they  should  be,  neat,  orderly,  and 
where  punctuality  and  good  methods  prevail —  in  short,  comfortable 
Christian  homes — tend  strongly  to  train  the  young  to  abhor  those 
vices  which  chiefly  afflict  civilized  society,  and  to  practice  those 
virtues  which  are  the  best  security  of  wise  institutions.  Such  homes 
are  the  fruit  of  woman’s  work;  and  the  instruction  that  gives  the 
household  skill  which  creates  them  can  be  imparted  only  by  female 
teachers,  workers  and  missionaries. 

“In  conclusion  may  we  not  sum  up  the  whole  matter  in  these  few 
words  ?  America  is  ‘  the  cradle  of  the  future  ’  for  all  the  world. 
The  future  of  America  is  in  her  homes,  and  her  homes  depend  on 
the  mothers  of  America.  Hence  the  value  and  importance  of  mis¬ 
sionary  societies  whose  work  is  done  by  women  in  the  homes  of  our 
beloved  country.” 

From  the  Atlantic  to  the  Golden  Gate,  from  the  White  House  to 
the  rude  log  cabin  of  the  Western  pioneer,  these  loyal  Christian 
thoughts  of  the  First  Lady  of  our  Republic,  find  an  echo  in  the  heart 
of  every  true  American  daughter  in  the  land.  That  Lucy  Webb 
Hayes  practiced  her  own  precepts,  the  nation’s  tributes  bear  witness. 

From  the  memorial  sketch  by  Mrs.  John  Davis,  I  have  selected 
the  following  extracts: 

“  She  was  an  intense  patriot,  an  heroic  woman.  I  doubt  if  any¬ 
one  ever  heard  her  complain.  Her  life  in  the  camps  was  almost  as 
busy  as  that  of  her  husband.  The  soldiers  called  the  young  and 
blooming  woman  ‘Our  Mother,’  because  of  her  motherly  ways,  of 
the  delicacies  she  prepared  for  the  sick,  of  the  hymns  she  sang  for 
them  as  they  gathered  around  her  on  Sunday  evening,  of  the  bright¬ 
ness  she  sought  to  bring  into  their  anxious  lives. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN.  . 


95 


‘  ‘  What  were  the  characteristics  that  united  to  make  her  life  so 
symmetrical  and  impressive  ?  We  shall  begin  with  her  home,  her 
domestic  life.  Every  woman  should  be  able  to  bear  the  closest 
scrutiny  here.  It  is  the  key  of  the  situation.  Mrs,  Hayes  had  a 
practical  knowledge  of  household  duties,  and  held  that  such  know¬ 
ledge  was  the  accomplishment  of  the  true  woman.  She  believed 
that  the  education  of  books  was  not  the  only  education  of  life. 

“Regarding  the  question  of  wine  she  said:  ‘It  is  true  I  shall 
violate  a  precedent;  but  I  shall  not  violate  the  Constitution,  which  is 
all  that,  through  my  husband,  I  have  taken  the  oath  to  obey.’  Her 
duty  was  sharply  defined,  clear  cut,  and  she  had  the  courage  of  her 
convictions.  Her  creed  was  short,  but  it  contained  all  the  law  and 
the  prophets.  Talking  with  her  of  faith  and  consecration,  she 
turned  her  sweet  eyes  full  of  tears  upon  me  and  said:  ‘  O,  I  am 
not  good,  but  I  do  try  to  keep  the  Golden  Rule.  I  do  try  to  do  to 
others  as  I  would  they  should  do  to  me.’  A  friend,  on  the  day  of 
her  funeral,  commenting  upon  the  large  assembly,  remarked:  ‘It  is 
a  tribute  of  the  people  to  a  woman  of  the  people.  Lucy  Hayes  was 
at  one  with  humanity.  ’  ’  ’ 

Out  of  many  testimonials  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  we 
select  the  following 

“She  was  a  grand,  patriotic  and  loyal-souled  woman,  and  her  heart  was 
big  enough  to  find  a  place  for  all  the  brave  young  soldiers  who  were  true  to 
the  old  flag.” 

Col.  HARRISON  GREY  OTIS. 


“Total  abstinence  has  never  had  such  a  standard-bearer  as  this  noble 
woman,  and  centuries  from  now,  her  steadfast  adherence  to  the  truest  Chris¬ 
tian  hospitality  will  be  told  as  a  memorial  of  her.” 

FRANCES  E.  WILLARD. 


“The  woman  who,  standing  in  the  chief  home,  stood  bravely  for  the  sake 
of  every  home  in  the  land.” 


ADELINE  D.  T.  WHITNEY. 


“Were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  I  long  since  committed  myself  to  Denver  for 
the  Fourth  of  July,  I  should  come  to  Fremont,  to  demonstrate  my  great 
respect  for  you  and  love  for  her  memory;  but  as  it  is  I  can  only  trace  on  paper 
a  few  words  of  sorrow  and  ask  a  place  in  that  vast  procession  of  mourners, 


96 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


who  would,  if  possible,  share  with  you  that  burden  of  grief.  Her  sudden  and 
totally  unexpected  death  leaves  a  great  blank  in  the  good  and  cheerful  in 
this  world.  How  vividly  come  back  to  me  the  memories  of  her  hearty  greet¬ 
ings,  her  beaming  face  and  unfailing  good  nature,  more  especially  during 
that  long  and  eventful  trip  to  the  Pacific  and  back  by  Arizona,  when  at  times, 
heat,  and  the  untimely  intrusion  of  rough  miners  would  have  ruffled  the  most 
angelic  temper.  Never  once  do  I  recall  an  instance  when  she  ever  manifested 
the  least  displeasure.” 

Gen.  W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

“  Her  presence  lends  its  warmth  and  health  to  all  who  come  before  it; 

If  woman  lost  us  Eden,  then  such  as  she  alone  restore  it.” 

WHITTIER. 


Mrs.  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD. 

Lucretia  Rudolph  Garfield  was  the  oldest  child  of  Zebulon  Rudolph 
and  Arabella  Mason  Rudolph.  Her  father  belonged  to  the  fifth  gen¬ 
eration  from  an  Austrian,  Colonel  Rudolph,  who  came  to  America 
some  time  during  the  seventeenth  century  and  settled  at  Elkton, 
Maryland.  Her  mother  was  directly  descended  from  Captain  John 
Mason  of  Pequot  fame,  who  came  to  Boston  in  1630.  Both  the  fam¬ 
ilies  came  to  Ohio  early  in  this  century,  and  were  among  the  first  of 
the  Ohio  pioneers. 

Lucretia  Rudolph  was  bom  April  19th,  1832,  on  a  farm  near  Gar- 
rettsville,  Ohio,  and  lived  there  until  1850,  when  her  father  removed 
to  Hiram  at  the  time  Hiram  College,  then  called  the  “  Eclectic  Insti¬ 
tute,”  was  founded. 

In  the  early  days  Garrettsville  was  a  pleasant  little  village,  and  was 
fortunate  in  having  an  excellent  ‘‘select  school”  for  young  girls. 
Lucretia  was  kept  in  this  school  until  she  was  fourteen,  when  she  was 
sent  from  home  for  a  winter,  to  much  the  same  kind  of  school  at 
Warren,  Trumbull  County.  In  1851  she  began  to  teach,  starting 
with  the  district  school,  which  was  followed  by  several  terms  at  the 
institute;  then  until  i860  she  spent  her  time  teaching  and  studying. 
She  taught  a  year  each  at  Ravenna  and  Cleveland,  in  the  public 
schools.  On  November  nth,  1858,  she  was  married  to  Mr.  James 
Abram  Garfield,  then  the  principal  of  the  eclectic  institute.  Their 
home  was  in  Hiram  until  General  Garfield  was  elected  to  Congress  in 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


97 


1863-64.  From  that  time  on  their  winters  were  spent  in  their  Wash¬ 
ington  home,  and  their  summers  in  Ohio.  Seven  children  were  born 
to  them,  two  girls  and  five  boys.  The  older  daughter  and  the  young¬ 
est  son  died  in  early  childhood.  Since  the  death  of  President  Gar¬ 
field,  Mrs.  Garfield  has  resided  in  Cleveland  and  her  Mentor  home. 
Mrs.  Garfield  is  a  lady  of  marked  grace  and  refinement  of  manner, 
dignified  yet  unassuming,  and  her  constant  unostentatious  charities 
are  only  known  to  intimate  personal  friends.  For  five  years  she  has 
been  president  of  the  Cleveland  Auxiliary  of  the  McAll  Mission  of 
France,  which  evangelical  enterprise  has  accomplished  such  an  amaz¬ 
ing  work  in  Paris  and  the  French  provinces.  As  this  is  a  foreign 
mission  field,  and  we  have  confined  ourselves  in  this  Souvenir  to 
women’s  work  in  America,  in  home  missions,  we  will  only  state  in 
connection  with  this  work,  that  the  women  of  the  United  States, 
through  their  various  auxiliaries  in  57  cities  of  America,  contributed 
through  their  central  board  to  this  Paris  Mission,  during  the  year 
1889-90,  over  $54,000,  which  is  about  their  annual  contribution  to 
this  mission. 

The  following  interesting  account  of  President  Garfield  and  his 
wife  was  written  several  years  ago  by  a  correspondent  of  the  White¬ 
hall  Review: 

‘  ‘  The  sweet-heart  of  his  boyhood — the  girl  pupil  whom  her  tutor 
loved— was  for  Garfield  the  star  of  his  heart’s  horizon  till  the  last  mo¬ 
ment  of  his  life.  I  never  saw  two  people  talk  so  much  with  their 
eyes  as  these  two  did.  It  was  evident  that  they  consulted  each  other 
upon  every  circumstance  of  life  as  it  rose,  and  the  action  he  took 
thereon  was  the  one  which  the  mutual  judgment  settled  upon  as  best. 

‘  ‘  I  saw  him  in  the  Senate  chamber  go  through  the  imposing  cere¬ 
monial  by  which  he  wras  transformed  from  a  private  citizen,  one  of 
the  mass,  to  a  ruler  whose  powers,  while  they  last,  are  more  auto¬ 
cratic  than  any  king’s.  The  agitation  of  the  solemn  moment  had 
blanched  the  glowing  cheek,  stilled  the  smile  on  the  now  pale  lips; 
but  ever  and  anon  he  lifted  his  eyes  to  her  as  she  sat  in  the  gallery 
above  and  in  front  of  him,  and  her  calm,  unruffled  face  seemed  to 
give  him  the  response  he  needed — the  only  one  he  could  listen  to,  or 
sought.  Any  observer  versed  in  physiognomy  could  see  that  her 
eyes  spoke  aloud  to  him  across  the  space  which  separated  them, 


98 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


saying,  ‘  All  is  well.  You  are  doing  nobly.  I  am  proud  of  you.’ 
Behind  the  unimpassioned  mask  of  her  delicate  features,  held  in 
bondage  by  the  power  of  her  will  and  fortitude,  there  glowed  the 
fire  of  an  enthusiastic  love  for  him,  joy  in  him,  support  from  her 
for  him,  to  which  no  cold  description  in  written  words  can  do 
justice. 

“  No  one  who  saw  President  Garfield  after  his  installation  in  the 
White  House,  can  fail  to  have  observed  the  great  change  which  his 
accession  to  power  had  occasioned  in  him.  Only  at  intervals  did 
his  bright  joyousness  shine  out  again,  as  at  the  pleasant  home  at 
Mentor.  The  very  day  after  he  became  President,  the  struggle  for 
the  spoils  of  office  began  with  a  fierceness  hitherto  unparalleled  in 
all  the  strife  of  that  kind  which  has  been  seen  at  Washington.  He 
was  half-maddened  by  his  desire  to  do  justice  to  all  the  contending 
factions.  It  was  this  feeling  which  made  him  slow  to  give  irrevo¬ 
cable  decisions.  I  was  at  the  White  House  one  morning,  and  he 
referred  to  his  anxiety  not  to  take  a  step  in  haste  which  he  might  re¬ 
pent  at  leisure.  The  humor  of  his  own  cautious  slowness  brought 
back  the  twinkle  in  his  eye,  the  smile  on  his  lip:  ‘  I  don’t  know 
when  I  shall  get  around  to  that,’  he  said,  ‘  You  know,  there’s  no 
telling  when  the  Mississippi  River  will  reach  a  given  point.  ’  The 
sluggish  movement  of  the  great  Father  of  Waters  was  hit  off  to  the 
life  by  this  impromptu  epigram.  The  day  I  called  at  the  White 
House  to  say  good-by — I  did  not  think  it  would  be  forever — I  was 
shown  into  the  family  drawing-room  up  stairs — an  apartment  to 
which  the  public  were  not  allowed  to  penetrate.  The  President  en¬ 
ters,  clad  in  a  grey  morning  suit.  Only  a  moment!  Such  a  rush  of 
people  clamoring  to  see  him !  But  during  this  moment  husband  and 
wife  continually  glance  affectionately — their  old  glance  —  their 
glance  of  Mentor,  of  the  Senate  Hall,  at  each  other.  Eyes  con- 
constantly  look  love  to  eyes  that  speak  again.  He  complains  of  the 
loss  of  sleep  which  the  pressure  of  Presidential  duties  entails.  ‘  I 
only  slept  four  hours  last  night,’  he  said.  But  he  hopes  everything 
is  doing  well  now.  Life  is  to  be  joyous  in  the  future.  ‘  There  is 
always  some  trouble  getting  to  rights  when  we  move  house,  is  there 
not?  So,  good-by,  and  God  bless  you!  ’  And  he  is  gone.” 


Mrs.  Benjamin  Harrison. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


99 


Mrs.  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

‘ 1  Mrs.  Caroline  Scott  Harrison  was  born  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  Oc¬ 
tober  ist,  1832,  of  Scotch  ancestry.  The  first  of  Mrs.  Harrison’s 
paternal  ancestors  in  America  was  John  Scott,  laird  of  Arras,  who, 
after  the  disastrous  battle  of  Bosworth  bridge  in  1679,  left  Scotland 
for  the  north  of  Ireland,  with  the  Earl  of  Belhaven.  After  the  Earl’s 
death  John  Scott  came  to  America  and  settled  in  the  valley  of  the 
Neshaminy,  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  the  village  of  Harts- 
ville  now  stands,  twenty  miles  north  of  Philadelphia. 

“  On  this  land  Rev.  William  Tennent  founded  in  1726  the  historic 
‘Log  College,’  out  of  which  primitive  institution  Princeton  College 
was  in  time  evolved.  Mrs.  Harrison’s  great-grandfather,  John 
Scott,  son  of  the  founder  of  the  family  in  this  country,  moved  to 
Northampton  county,  Pa.,  and  purchased  land  opposite  Belvidere, 
N.  J.,  which  is  still  known  as  the  ‘  Scott  farm.’  During  the  Revo¬ 
lutionary  War,  he  was  a  quartermaster  in  the  Pennsylvania  line.  His 
brother,  Matthew,  after  serving  as  a  captain  in  the  army,  moved  to 
Kentucky,  and  among  his  descendants  was  Lucy  Webb,  wife  of 
President  Hayes. 

“Rev.  George  McElroy  Scott,  Mrs.  Harrison’s  grandfather,  was 
graduated  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1793,  studied 
theology  with  Rev.  Stanhope  Smith,  president  of  Princeton  College, 
and  in  1799,  was  called  to  Mill  Creek  Church,  Beaver  county,  Pa., 
being  the  first  Presbyterian  minister  to  locate  in  the  western  part  of 
that  state.  It  was  there  that  her  father,  Dr.  John  W.  Scott, 
was  born  in  1800. 

‘  ‘  Mrs.  Harrison  enjoyed  superior  educational  advantages,  and  was 
graduated  from  Oxford,  Ohio,  Female  Seminary,  in  1852,  the  year 
that  President  Harrison  took  his  degree  at  Oxford  University,  in  the 
same  town.  She  taught  music  in  Carrollton,  Ky.,  one  year,  and  on 
October  20th,  1853,  was  married  to  Benjamin  Harrison. 

“  When  the  Civil  War  opened,  and  her  husband  decided  to  enter 
the  army,  she  patriotically  said  to  him :  ‘  Go  and  help  to  save  your 

country,  and  let  us  trust  in  the  shielding  care  of  a  Higher  Power  for 
your  protection  and  safe  return.’ 

‘  ‘  She  afterwards  read  with  pride  ot  the  heroic  deed  of  her  husband 


ICO 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


at  Resaca  and  Peach  Tree  Creek.  Mrs.  Harrison  was  a  woman  of 
strong  individuality  and  great  kindness  of  heart;  she  was  sympathetic 
and  benevolent,  and  an  active  worker  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  and 
Sunday-school,  and  in  charitable  organizations.  Her  voice  was  a 
pleasant  one,  and  bespoke  a  gentle  nature;  she  had  a  special  gift  for 
conversation,  which  was  characterized  by  thoughtfulness. 

“Her  artistic  tastes  found  expression  in  water-color  painting.  She 
had  been  six  years  the  wife  of  Senator  Harrison  in  Congress,  and  as 
such  had  formed  many  acquaintances  and  lasting  friendships  in 
Washington,  before  she  became  Mistress  of  the  White  House.  In 
this  capacity  she  performed  her  duties  with  dignity  and  grace. 
During  her  husband’s  administration,  Mrs.  Harrison  was  chosen 
president  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution.  President  and  Mrs. 
Harrison  had  but  two  children;  Russell,  the  only  son,  was  graduated 
at  La  Fayette  College  in  1877,  and  is  now  engaged  in  journalism; 
Mary,  their  daughter,  married  J.  Robert  McKee,  of  Indianapolis, 
now'  a  resident  of  Boston.’’ 


Mrs.  GROVER  CLEVELAND. 

Mrs.  Grover  Cleveland  has  made  for  herself  an  enduring  name  in 
American  history  by  her  kindly  courtesy  and  social  affability,  w'hich 
has  in  her  presence  effaced  all  barriers  of  party  spirit  and  political 
differences,  and  rendered  her  the  national  favorite  of  all  parties,  and 
signalized  her  former  reign  in  the  White  House  as  that  of  the  great¬ 
est  social  prestige,  only  excepting  the  fascinating  sovereignty  of  Dolly 
Madison.  The  women  of  America  ow'e  Mrs.  Cleveland  honor  in  that 
she  has  demonstrated  the  far-reaching  influence  of  woman’s  kindliness 
and  courtesy,  and  the  beneficent  efficacy  of  womanly  attractions  when 
joined  to  rare  tact  and  unselfish  consideration  for  the  happiness  of 
those  around  her.  Mrs.  Cleveland  possesses  the  genius  of  social  suc¬ 
cess  which  is  a  gift  differing  from  and  yet  dependent  upon  mental  at¬ 
tainments,  though  it  may  exist  without  the  genius  of  distinctive 
intellectual  powers,  or  marked  artistic  susceptibilities.  Artistic  and 
intellectual  genius  may  accompany  social  success,  and  social  success 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


IOI 


must  always  to  a  certain  extent  be  joined  to  the  qualities  of  mind  pro¬ 
ductive  of  talent;  but  the  genius  of  social  success  is  nevertheless  a 
special  gift  which  is  bestowed  upon  few,  acquired  by  those  only  pos¬ 
sessed  of  particular  qualities  of  disposition  and  favorable  environ¬ 
ments,  and  never  gained  by  those  whose  intuitive  perceptions  are 
dull,  and  who  lack  the  rare  talent  of  knowing  just  the  right  thing  to 
say  and  the  right  thing  to  do  under  all  circumstances. 


/ 


WOMEN  IN  THE  HOME. 


“  What  furniture  can  give  stick  finish  to  a  room  as  a  tender 
woman's  face?  and  is  there  any  harmony  of  tints  that  has  such 
stirrings  of  delight  as  the  sweet  modulations  of  her  voice  ?  ” — George 
Eliot. 

Home  has  the  first  claim.  “The  first  thought  of  a  wife  or 
mother  should  be  her  home;  all  things,  no  matter  how  important, 
are  secondary  to  that.  No  matter  how  rampant  may  become  cer¬ 
tain  public  evils,  let  her  see  to  it  that  she  keeps  the  evil  out  of  her 
home,  and  she  performs  her  greatest  duty  to  her  God,  her  family, 
and  mankind.”  Various  are  the  phases  of  home  life  in  America. 
Brief  glimpses  of  some  of  these  domestic  scenes  and  problems  are 
given  in  this  department  of  the  Souvenir.  Mrs.  Agnes  B.  Ormsbee, 
well  known  for  her  instructive  writings  upon  this  pre-eminent  de¬ 
partment  of  woman’s  life,  contributes  the  article  upon  “Wives  and 
Daughters  in  the  Home.”  It  is  fitting  that  Mrs.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  should  treat  of  “Clergymen’s  Wives;”  and  Mrs.  Jessie 
Benton  Fr6mont  writes  with  excellent  taste  of  “Wives  of  Army 
Officers.”  Miss  Leonora  B.  Halsted  sketches  graphically  “The 
Social  Leaders  of  Washington,”  and  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie  writes  of 
“The  Southern  Woman  Past  and  Present”  with  admirable  dis¬ 
crimination.  Mrs.  Jenness  Miller  is  authoritative  upon  the  theme  of 
the  “Physical  Culture  of  American  Women,”  and  Miss  Spelman 
and  Miss  Hooker  describe  the  home-life  of  “  Everyday  Women,” 
and  “  Farmer’s  Wives  and  Daughters.” — Editor. 


Mrs.  Agnes  Bailey  Qrmstiee, 


CHAPTER  IX. 


WIVES  AND  DAUGHTERS  IN  THE  HOME. 

BY  AGNES  BAILEY  ORM5BEE.* 

THE  home  has  always  been  the  unit  of  American  civilization.  Be¬ 
fore  the  church  or  the  school-house  were  built,  the  home  con¬ 
served  religion  and  education.  From  Plymouth  Rock  and  the  settle¬ 
ments  along  the  James  River  to  Puget  Sound  dominion  has  been 
pushed  oftener  by  the  family  than  by  the  individual  pioneer.  The 
obvious  exceptions  to  this  are  the  mining  camps  of  the  Sierras  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  but  one  may  question  whether  those  regions  were 
fairly  to  be  called  civilized  before  the  reign  of  the  family  began.  And 
in  those  early  homes,  which  were  truly  tabernacles  built  to  honor  God 
and  to  preserve  liberty,  who  were  the  priestesses  serving  at  the  altars 
day  and  night,  and  keeping  always  burning  the  lamps  of  the  fear  of 
God  and  the  love  of  freedom  ?  They  were  none  other  than  the  wives 
and  daughters  of  the  household,  women  rarely  “heard  of  half  a  mile 
from  home,”  women  toiling  with  the  pots  and  pans,  with  distaff  and 
loom,  their  hands  hardened  and  calloused  by  daily  tasks,  their  faces 
lined  with  vigils  over  rude  cradles  and  trundle  beds;  yet  their  influ¬ 
ence,  humble  in  its  first  estate,  has  flowed  on  through  the  years  like 
the  tiny  rivulet  that  leaves  the  mountain  spring,  gathering  force  and 
strength  until  it  has  become  a  stately  river,  bearing  on  its  placid 
breast  living  ships,  laden  with  noble  purposes,  high  promises  and 
earnest  efforts,  the  glory  of  our  common  mother-land.  These 
homely  women  did  not  question  the  right  of  the  husband  and  father 
to  be  the  family  high  priest,  but  with  fervent  hearts  and  faithful  hands 
they  filled  their  lamps  with  the  mingled  oil  of  love  and  duty.  They 
did  those  things  that  lay  nearest  their  hands,  the  cooking,  the  sewing, 


♦Author  of  “The  House  Comfortable,”  etc. 


io6 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


the  washing,  the  cleaning,  but  although  their  tasks  were  rude,  their 
cares  heavy  and  monotonous,  their  minds  were  clear,  their  hearts 
brave,  and  they  surrounded  their  husbands  and  children  with  an  at¬ 
mosphere  of  high  ideals  when  the  means  of  mental  and  physical  re¬ 
finement  were  few  in  their  unpretending  homes.  These  women 
made  mistakes,  they  became  weary  and  oft  sore  in  mind  and 
body,  but  discouragement  was  followed  by  renewed  courage,  by 
heartfelt  striving  and  tender  discernment.  All  their  wealth  of  heart 
power  was  poured  out  for  the  good  of  the  group  that  gathered  around 
the  family  hearthstone. 

In  the  home  the  influence  which  has  tended  towards  refinement, 
towards  the  amenities  of  life,  which  are  as  essential  elements  in  civ¬ 
ilization  as  are  education  and  the  escape  from  grinding  poverty,  has 
come  from  the  wives  and  daughters.  In  the  early  days  mother  and 
daughters  strove  together  to  make  their  rude  surroundings  pleasing. 
They  found  time  in  their  busy  days  to  cultivate  the  tall  sweet  Will¬ 
iams  and  hollyhocks,  the  fragrant  grass  pink,  the  columbine  and 
tiger  lillies  for  prim  bouquets,  and  the  savory  herbs  for  seasoning, 
and  time  to  pick  sprigs  of  lavender  and  red  clover  bloom  to  scent  the 
household  linen;  while  myriad  are  the  tiny  stitches  they  set  to  deck 
the  snowy  ruffles  of  the  gude  man’s  Sunday  shirts  and  the  borders  of 
the  baby’s  caps  and  dresses,  stitches  that  make  a  brave  showing  be¬ 
side  those  of  this  era  of  art  needle  work.  Mother  and  daughters 
struggled  together  for  the  bits  of  schooling  possible  to  their  rough 
circumstances,  giving  the  chance  first  to  the  boys  that  seemed  most 
promising  or  least  adapted  from  native  gift  or  physical  ailments  to 
hard  toil.  The  resolute  young  “  Widow  Garfield,”  who  with  her 
own  hands  split  the  fence  rails,  tilled  the  clearing  and  kept  her  “  four 
saplings”  together  in  the  house,  realized  the  needs  of  education. 
She  gave  the  land  for  the  first  school-house  in  her  settlement,  that 
her  youngest  son — the  brilliant  James  A.  Garfield — might  have  the 
chance  that  her  keen  mind  saw  he  would  profit  by.  Although  she 
lived  to  see  her  highest  dream  more  than  fulfilled  and  always  to  have 
a  part  in  her  son’s  honors,  her  struggles  for  her  children’s  education 
were  not  exceptional.  Hundreds  of  other  mothers  did  as  much,  and 
many  boys  and  girls  grew  up  and  lived  broader  lives  for  this  effort  in 
their  behalf.  It  was  the  distinguished  career  of  this  one  woman’s 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


107 


son  which  brought  to  light  the  history  of  that  rude  Ohio  school-house 
and  made  known  the  efforts  of  one  mother  among  many. 

The  special  glory  of  America  has  been  that  it  is  the  land  where 
the  poor  may  not  stay  poor;  where  an  industrious  man  might  by 
thrift  achieve  a  competence  for  his  old  age  and  might  establish  his 
children  in  more  profitable  occupations  than  his  own.  How  large  a 
part  of  this  thrift  has  been  due  to  the  wife  can  scarcely  be  reckoned. 
Skilled  in  all  housewifely  arts,  counting  no  work  too  mean,  no  saving 
too  small  so  it  might  further  the  family  good,  the  wife  has  cast  in  her 
strength  of  body  and  mind  with  that  of  her  husband  as  the  working 
capital  of  the  home  partnership.  “The  business  woman’’  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  a  development  of  the  latter  half  of  this  century.  But 
women  have  exercised  business  sagacity  in  the  expenditure  and 
management  of  money  in  small  ways  almost  since  American  homes 
were  established  and  the  judicious  counsel  of  many  a  wife  has  been 
the  guiding  star  to  her  husband  through  complex  affairs.  A  brilliant 
example  of  the  business  woman  is  found  in  Abigail  Adams,  who  was 
“the  wisest,  safest,  most  reliable  counsellor  of  John  Adams,  the 
second  President  of  the  United  States.’’  Mrs.  Sally  Jay,  the  wife  of 
John  Jay,  not  only  bore  like  Mrs.  Adams,  separation  from  her  husband 
for  her  country’s  sake,  but  successfully  managed  large  business  affairs. 
What  these  women  of  wider  careers  did  has  been  repeated  time  and 
again  by  obscure  wives.  Their  service  has  been  beautifully  and 
justly  illustrated  by  Holmes,  in  his  simile  of  a  large  ship  with  sails 
full  spread,  moving  majestically  on  its  course  while  its  motive  power 
comes  from  a  small  tug  hidden  by  its  own  broad  sides. 

The  American  wife  has  been  through  our  history  a  helpmeet  to 
her  husband.  Biography  is  filled  with  this  fact,  of  which  no  more 
beautiful  testimony  can  be  adduced  than  the  brief  history  of  Submit 
Dickinson,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  David  Dudley  Field  and  mother  of 
ten  children,  four  of  whom  have  become  famous.  ‘  ‘  In  her  youth 
she  was  said  to  have  possesed  great  personal  beauty  a  light,  graceful 
figure  and  a  very  animated  countenance,  and  those  who  in  after  years 
shared  her  hospitality  will  not  forget  what  brightness  and  sunshine 
she  shed  around  her  in  the  circle  of  her  home.  The  heart  of  her 
husband  safely  trusted  in  her.  She  was  his  faithful  companion  for 
fifty-seven  years.”  Her  husband’s  salary  was  first  $500,  then  $700 


io8 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


and  was  latterly  reduced  to  $600.  Yet  on  this  small  stipend  the 
large  family  lived  and  sent  four  sons  to  Williams  College!  And  the 
Chronicler  adds:  “  This  miracle  could  not  have  been  wrought  but 
for  the  economy,  good  management  and  untiring  industry  of  her 
who  was  truly  the  angel  of  the  household.”  Beautiful,  graceful, 
sunny,  loving,  wise,  the  mother  of  ten  children!  And  with  an  income 
of  $600  a  year!  Many  a  saint  has  been  cononized  for  less!  The  un¬ 
written  histories  of  countless  homes,  filling  our  towns  and  cities  and 
dotting  the  valleys  and  hillsides  could  repeat  this  gracious  example 
time  and  again  from  the  lives  of  patient  women  whose  memories  are 
precious  legacies  to  their  households,  but  are  unknown  to  the  world. 
The  modern  wife  is  also  a  helpmeet.  She  may  not  spin  and  weave, 
but  in  the  city  and  town  life,  far  more  financial  responsibility  falls  upon 
her  than  fell  upon  the  grandmother.  Such  are  the  demands  of 
business  life  that  the  husband  has  less  time  at  command,  and  to  the 
wife  is  given  not  only  the  entire  control  of  the  household  but  the 
purchasing  power.  It  frequently  comes  to  pass  that  nearly  the 
whole  income  is  placed  at  her  disposal  and  expended  according  to 
her  judgment. 

As  the  glory  of  woman  is  “  the  divine  gift  of  motherhood  ”  so  are 
the  children  the  highest  honor  of  the  American  wife.  To  her  nurture 
and  loving  wisdom  America  owes  not  only  distinguished  men  who 
have  become  the  statesmen,  the  poets,  the  artists,  the  scientists,  the 
men  of  all  ranks  who  fill  our  national  history  with  honored  names, 
but  America  owes  largely  to  her  the  honesty,  the  law  respecting 
spirit  of  the  common  people.  The  child  is  trained  almost  wholly  by 
the  mother  during  those  priceless,  plastic,  early  years  and  the 
obedience,  honor,  respect  then  inculcated  are  the  germs  of  that  spirit 
which  makes  every  man  loyal  to  our  flag  and  every  man  a  brick  in 
the  defensive  wall  surrounding  our  native  land.  And  it  is  not  alone 
by  words  that  our  girls  and  boys  are  trained.  The  mother  creates 
by  example  and  influence  a  moral  and  mental  atmosphere  from  which 
the  children  absorb  character  and  high  ideals.  A  woman  may  be 
naturally  small  in  mind,  but  motherhood  touches  a  spring  that  sends 
forth  a  tide  of  wisdom,  better  than  any  mere  mental  power,  broadening 
her  nature.  Children  learn  goodness  from  the  patience  and  sympathy 
of  the  heart  that  through  life  never  is  turned  from  them. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


109 


And  as  it  is  the  mother  who  first  teaches  morality  and  patriotism, 
so  it  is  she  who  teaches  belief  in  God,  higher  than  all  dogmatism;  a 
belief  which,  though  often  hidden  under  worldly  cares,  rarely  dies 
out  of  the  heart  of  the  hardest  man.  He  indeed  would  be  deaf  and 
blind  who  could  read  the  story  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  Washington, 
and  not  appreciate  her  influence  upon  her  children.  How  wisely 
she  taught  her  boy  self-control,  faith  in  God,  love  of  country  and 
justice  tempered  with  mercy,  and  he  who  knew  so  well  how  to  rule 
never  forgot  her,  the  human  source  of  much  of  his  strength. 

Perhaps  no  American  family  is  more  widely  known  than  the 
Beechers.  How  much  America  owes  to  the  eloquent  preacher  and 
to  the  author  of  “Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin”  is  recent  history.  But  the 
debt  runs  farther  back  to  the  days  when  Lyman  Beecher,  then  a 
young  man,  wrote:  ‘  ‘  I  had  inwardly  sworn  never  to  marry  a  weak 
woman.  I  had  made  up  my  mind  that  a  woman  to  be  my  wife  must 
have  sense,  must  possess  strength  to  lean  upon.  She  was  such  as  I 
had  imagined.”  Roxana  Foote  in  her  young  days  read  as  she  spun, 
with  her  book  tied  to  her  distaff,  and  in  her  years  of  wifehood  and 
motherhood  she  so  ennobled  her  narrow  lot  that  one  of  her  children 
said  of  her:  “  She  was  a  woman  not  demonstrative,  of  a  profound 
philosophical  nature,  of  wonderful  depth  •  of  affection  and  with  a 
serenity  simply  charming.”  Although  she  died  when  young,  yet 
she  left  her  influence  among  her  children;  and  in  after  years  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  wrote:  “  I  can  never  say  enough  for  women  for  my 
sister’s  sake,”  and  of  his  mother  he  said:  “Few  bora  into  this 
world  are  her  equal.” 

The  daughters  of  the  house,  especially  those  who  have  denied 
themselves  a  home  or  were  denied  by  fate,  have  done  their  share. 
Their  influence,  quiet,  unseen,  how  great  it  has  been!  How  faithful 
their  care  of  the  old  father  and  mother  when  other  sons  and  daugh¬ 
ters  have  gone  out  to  happy  homes;  how  patient  and  how  gentle 
they  have  been  with  the  restless  boys  and  girls  who  often  rudely 
jostled  them  in  their  dependent  seat  in  the  family  circle;  how  ready 
to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  unfortunate  or  distressed!  A  fitting 
example  of  the  services  of  these  unselfish  daughters  is  found  in  the 
life  work  of  Louisa  M.  Alcott,  the  tireless  daughter,  sister  and  friend, 
and  in  the  heroic  life  of  Dorothy  Lynde  Dix,  whose  influence  brought 
solace  to  homes  darkened  by  great  distress. 


I  IO 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


To  the  mental  influence  of  American  mothers  there  is  frequent 
testimony.  This  marked  influence  of  the  American  mother  in  men¬ 
tal  as  well  as  moral  and  religious  ways  is  largely  owing  to  the  fact 
that  she  is  more  often  than  not  the  equal  of  her  husband  in  character, 
is  as  devoted  to  her  children,  has  them  more  constantly  around  her 
and  is  more  willing — nay,  ambitious,  that  her  children  should  rise 
higher  intellectually  and  socially  than  she  herself  can  hope  to  do. 
When  the  distinguished  sons  and  daughters  whom  these  women 
have  borne,  to  the  lasting  debt  of  America,  have  become  writers  they 
have  freely  written  of  their  mothers,  but  when  they  have  become 
statesmen  and  scientists  we  must  read  between  the  lines  to  find  the 
mother’s  influence.  Of  no  ignoble  strain  was  the  mother  of  the 
Washburns,  who  could  rear  five  sons,  each  rising  to  honor  and  so 
often  the  people’s  choice  in  many  public  offices. 

Many  years  ago  there  was  in  Boston  a  dark  eyed,  gracious  woman, 
a  widow,  keeping  boarders  to  rear  her  four  sons,  boys  of  great 
promise.  This  was  the  mother  of  Emerson.  So  noble  was  her 
mind  and  soul  that  she  rose  above  the  sordid  lines  of  her  life,  and 
imparted  to  her  best  known  son  “  the  rarer  and  higher  elements  of  his 
character.”  Another  woman’s  influence  was  felt  in  that  home  also, 
the  Aunt  Mary,  a  woman  of  abrupt,  strong,  prophetic  speech,  who 
laid  her  impress  upon  the  boy’s  mind.  Of  the  influence  of  Ellen 
Tucker,  his  early  lost  bride,  Emerson  wrote:  “She  was  a  bright 
revelation  of  the  best  nature  of  woman,”  while  of  that  other  wife,  the 
mother  of  his  children,  he  said:  “She  was  the  soul  of  faith!” 
Who  can  measure  the  power  of  four  such  women  ? 

That  Lowell’s  life  and  greatness  wrere  largely  aided  by  the  broad, 
spiritual  nature  of  Maria  White,  who  became  his  wife,  all  biogra¬ 
phers  concede.  It  was  to  the  gentle,  imaginative,  romantic  invalid 
mother  that  Longfellow  owed  the  harmonious  features  of  his 
character.  The  tribute  which  the  poet  Whittier  gives  ‘  ‘  my  dear 
mother  to  whom  I  owe  much  ”  is  brief  but  eloquent,  befitting  the 
man,  and  the  quiet  Quaker  mother.  In  that  melodious  poem  “An 
Order  for  a  Picture,”  Alice  Cary  draws  with  loving  touch  the  figure 
of  the  lady — my  mother.  Of  the  sources  of  that  strength  of  mind 
and  clearness  of  intellect  which  so  marked  the  lives  of  the  “song 
birds,”  her  daughters,  we  can  form  a  juster  idea  from  the  words  of 


WHAT  AMERICA.  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


in 


Phoebe  Cary.  ‘  ‘  She  was  the  wonder  of  my  childhood.  She  is  not 
less  a  wonder  to  me  as  I  recall  her  now.  How  she  did  so  much 
work,  and  yet  did  it  well;  how  she  reared  carefully  and  governed 
wisely,  so  large  a  family  of  children,  and  yet  found  time  to  develop 
by  thought  and  reading  a  mind  of  unusual  strength  and  clearness, 
is  still  a  mystery  to  me.  She  was  fond  of  history,  politics,  moral 
essays,  biography  and  works  of  religious  controversy.  Poetry 
she  read,  but  cared  little  for  fictitious  literature.  An  exemplary 
housewife,  a  wise  and  kind  mother,  she  left  no  duty  unfulfilled, 
yet  she  found  time,  often  at  night,  after  every  other  member  of 
the  household  was  asleep,  by  reading,  to  keep  herself  informed  of 
ail  the  issues  of  the  day,  political,  social  and  religious.  ’  ’ 

And  we,  the  women  of  to-day,  to  whom  this  inheritance  of  power 
for  good  is  intrusted  by  the  faithful  women  of  the  past,  how  are  we 
discharging  our  trust  ?  Are  we  living  earnestly,  patiently  and 
steadily  each  in  our  little  world  ?  Do  we  recognize  the  potency 
of  a  faithful  performance  of  monotonous  duties  ?  Do  we  realize  the 
sunshine  and  comfort  that  is  diffused  by  cheerful  lives?  Let  us 
then  so  spend  our  days  that  we  may  not  lessen  the  mighty  tide  of 
womanly  influence,  remembering  always  that  however  great  or 
renowned  we  may  become  as  artists,  poets,  scholars  or  philanthro¬ 
pists,  we  decrease  the  debt  America  owes  to  wives  and  daughters  if 
we  belittle  in  any  way  the  hearthstone,  the  keystone  of  our  nation’s 
prosperity. 


CHAPTER  X. 


DOMESTIC  SCIENCE  IN  AMERICAN  HOMES. 

EDITORIAL. 

IN  the  American  homes  of  the  past,  domestic  science,  though  requir¬ 
ing  arduous  manual  toil,  was  simple  in  the  various  departments, 
and  would  compare  with  the  complex  modern  domestic  machinery  of 
our  American  homes,  in  about  the  same  ratio  as  their  ancient  spiraling 
wheels  compare  with  the  intricate  mechanisms  of  our  large  manu¬ 
factories. 

In  the  homes  of  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  America,  though  the 
wives  and  daughters  were  the  cooks,  laundresses  and  housemaids  for 
the  families,  they  could  command  perhaps  as  much  leisure  as  the 
heads  of  our  households;  where  not  only  far  more  complicated  do¬ 
mestic  work  is  a  seeming  necessity  of  the  age,  and  the  education  of 
children  must  be  supervised  by  the  mother  in  innumerable  directions, 
beyond  the  three  requisite  branches  of  the  education  of  past  genera¬ 
tions — “reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic;”  but  together  with  these 
multiplied  claims  in  the  home,  social  duties,  philanthropic  enterprises, 
and  personal  culture  all  present  their  pressing  demands  upon  our  time 
and  attention. 

Lady  Washington,  pictured  with  piacid  serenity  and  repose,  as 
she  gracefully  knits  the  home-made  stocking  while  entertaining  her 
lady  friends  on  “  the  long  summer  afternoons,”  of  which  our  great¬ 
grandmothers  wrote,  would  suppose  that  she  had  fallen  upon  some 
hitherto  unknown  planet  should  she  enter  our  modern  homes  and 
meet  their  perplexing  problems. 

Compare,  for  a  moment,  the  difference  between  the  social,  political 
and  domestic  demands  upon  the  wives  of  our  early  Presidents,  and  the 
arduous  duties  devolving  to-day  upon  the  First  Lady  of  our  country. 
Great  progress  in  home  comforts  and  home  elegance  has  indeed 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


”3 


been  made,  but  domestic  science  has  thereby  become  more  complex, 
and  demands  a  new  adjustment  of  domestic  duties  which  cannot  be 
made  by  adhering  to  the  methods  of  the  past. 

Wealth  and  culture  have  introduced  marked  changes  in  manners 
and  customs.  Even  in  the  enlightened  intellectual  age  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  when  Shakespeare,  Spenser,  Bacon,  and  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
lived  and  wrote;  when  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and  Lord  Burleigh  graced 
the  royal  table,  fingers  were  used  instead  of  forks,  and  the  fair  queen 
was  greatly  commended  for  the  graceful  manner  in  which  she  dipped 
her  dainty  fingers  into  the  dish,  tossing  the  food  into  her  royal  mouth, 
and  using  with  queenly  elegance  the  highly  privileged  napkin,  which 
before  the  sixteenth  century  was  not  known  even  to  royalty.  In  the 
times  of  James  I.  and  Charles  I.  the  use  of  the  fork  was  quite  rare. 
Surely  we  have  advanced  many  steps  towards  home  comfort  and 
home  elegance,  in  spite  of  all  our  defeats  and  hindrances.  Home  is 
woman’s  kingdom  where  she  reigns  as  queen.  The  aesthetical  side  of 
home  life  is  all  that  poets  have  sung  and  novelists  described.  Amer¬ 
ican  home  life,  with  all  its  short-comings,  stands  for  the  truest  home 
life  in  the  world.  The  best  American  homes  of  to-day  are  the  homes 
par  excellence  of  the  globe.  Nowhere  else  can  be  found  more  true, 
honorable,  and  steadfast  husbands,  fathers,  and  sons;  nowhere  else 
can  be  seen  more  intelligent,  refined,  capable,  and  lovable  wives, 
mothers,  and  daughters.  American  homes  of  the  present  are  the 
only  true  foundations  for  the  ideal  homes  of  the  future. 

American  home  life  is  the  highest  realization  yet  reached  of  fu¬ 
ture  possibilities.  The  greater  intelligence  of  the  masses,  the  higher 
aspirations,  and  increasing  moral  and  intellectual  influence  of  the 
mothers,  and  the  more  skilled  and  thorough  training  of  the  children, 
will  insure  not  only  a  possible  hope,  but  a  practical  reality  in  the  pro¬ 
gression  of  the  age. 

Mutual  aspirations,  noble  purposes,  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  to 
the  uplifting  of  human  lives,  is  just  as  true  a  reality  in  many  Ameri¬ 
can  homes  at  the  present  time  as  is  the  marvellous  success  in  Ameri¬ 
can  inventions  and  business  enterprises.  American  wives  love  and 
honor  their  husbands,  and  American  husbands  love  and  honor  their 
wives  in  a  greater  degree  than  is  the  case  in  other  nations.  Children 
mingle  more  freely  in  the  family  circle  than  in  foreign  countries.  A 


THE  NATJONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR 


114 

mother’s  personal  presence  directs  their  every  step  and  advancement 
in  health,  manners,  and  morals;  they  are  not  restricted  to  the 
nursery  until  the  boarding-school  or  convent  receives  them  into  a 
new  imprisonment.  Fathers  are  more  generally  the  companions  of 
their  sons,  and  expect  to  know  more  about  them  than  simply  to  hire 
their  tutors  and  send  them  for  an  indefinite  period  to  travel — and 
learn,  if  they  will — or  run  riot,  if  they  choose. 

But  we  do  not  deal  now  with  the  glorious  possibilities,  and  realized 
benedictions  which  fall  like  sunshine  upon  the  life  of  the  wife  and 
mother,  whose  home  is  her  heaven,  and  whose  heart  rests  in  her 
husband  and  children  with  satisfied  and  proud  content,  irrespective 
of  circumstances  and  casual  environments.  We  have  not  now  to 
study  woman’s  heart-life,  but  woman’s  home-life.  It  would  be  more 
charming  to  picture  the  aesthetical  side  of  American  homes;  but  my 
province  now  is  to  present  the  practical  side  of  domestic  American  life. 

Regarding  the  manners  and  customs  of  American  homes  you  are 
all  familiar.  A  few  words  as  to  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  home 
comforts,  treating  them  from  the  commonplace  standpoint  of  daily, 
practical  living,  not  from  any  moral,  aesthetical,  nor  intellectual 
standpoint. 

Given  to  woman  her  home  kingdom,  in  this  nineteenth  century. 
Does  the  machinery  run  like  clockwork  ?  Is  there  no  friction  among 
any  of  the  numerous  wheels  and  springs  composing  this  wonderful 
institution,  called  home-life?  Where  does  the  difficulty  in  our 
American  homes  lie  ?  Where  shall  we  look  for  the  cause  that  makes 
housekeeping  a  burden  and  the  providing  of  home  comforts  a  weari¬ 
ness  to  the  soul  and  body  of  woman  ? 

We  will  not  look  upon  it  from  a  monetary  standpoint.  W e  all  know 
that  money  is  necessary  and  that  luxuries  and  adornments  demand 
expense.  Money  is  a  power  in  securing  richness  and  elegance,  but 
money  cannot  buy  ideal  homes,  founded  upon  knowledge,  courtesy, 
kindliness  and  culture. 

It  will  not  matter  to  our  present  view  of  the  question,  whether  the 
windows  are  draped  with  the  daintiest  of  laces,  and  the  walls  hung  with 
the  rarest  of  tapestries,  and  the  furniture  upholstered  with  the  costliest 
of  fabrics,  or  the  rooms  less  expensively  adorned.  Our  question  deals 
not  so  much  with  the  decorating  and  furnishing  of  American  homes, 
as  with  the  more  important  question  of  home  comforts. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


115 

We  have  all  experienced  the  difficulties  of  housekeeping.  We 
must  here  discriminate  between  housekeeping  and  home-making. 
Practical  housekeeping  is  the  foundation  for  home-making,  but  there 
is  a  wide  difference  between  them. 

Why  cannot  housekeeping  be  made  to  run  with  the  smoothness 
and  exactness  of  mercantile  enterprises  or  manufacturing  establish¬ 
ments  ?  Why  cannot  a  woman  be  the  head  and  superintendent,  lay 
plans  which  will  be  carried  out,  give  orders  to  servants  which  shall 
be  obeyed  with  exactness  and  despatch  ?  Simply  because  an  insur¬ 
mountable  difficulty  stares  every  housekeeper  in  the  face,  blockades 
her  way,  upsets  her  best  laid  plans,  brings  to  naught  her  skill,  her 
knowledge,  her  taste,  her  most  unceasing  supervision. 

We  do  not  include  a  dilettante  housekeeping,  which  inquires  only 
if  her  “  Potage  a  la  Reine  ”  is  served  in  priceless  Sevres  and  is  not 
aware  that  ‘  ‘ Potage  a  la  Reine  ’  ’  is  old-fashioned  chicken  broth, 
which  her  great-grandmother  ate  from  pewter  bowl  or  common  stone¬ 
ware  cup. 

The  foundation  of  all  true  progress  is  common  sense,  and  common 
sense  leads  us  to  ask  the  plain  question,  what  can  be  done?  Nothing, 
in  a  hurry;  everything  in  time.  Mothers  and  housekeepers  of  the 
nineteenth  century  have  got  to  meet  the  servant  girl  question, 
grapple  with  it,  and  leave  the  women  of  the  twentieth  century  to  reap 
the  benefit  of  their  patient,  persistent  solving  of  the  problem. 

With  trained  service  and  skilled  labor,  housekeeping  would  be  a 
delight,  and  woman’s  life  would  be  lifted  into  the  realm  of  sufficient 
repose,  to  enable  her  to  gain  for  herself  and  family  advancement  in 
culture  and  development  of  mental  powers  which  are  now  so  almost 
hopelessly  retarded  by  the  constant  strain  upon  tired  nerves  and 
overtaxed  muscles. 

Untrained  servants  are  the  cause  of  nine-tenths  of  the  discomforts 
of  American  homes,  and  are  the  greatest  stumbling-blocks  in  the  way 
of  woman’s  intellectual  advancement.  It  is  not  becoming  a  wife  or 
mother,  that  robs  her  of  her  rightful  heritage  of  mental  development. 
It  is  only  because  her  time  and  energies  are  frittered  away  by  a  here¬ 
tofore  baffling  of  her  best  laid  plans  by  unskilled  servants. 

In  business  money  can  hire  the  most  skilled  workmen,  but  in 
housekeeping,  money  at  last  finds  the  coveted  end  beyond  its  reach; 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


1 16 

it  can  palliate,  it  cannot  eradicate  the  evil.  Woman’s  suffrage  is  not 
necessary  to  the  solving  of  this  difficulty.  It  is  not  necessary  that 
Bridget  should  excitedly  throw  the  half-dressed  chicken  into  one 
corner,  and  the  half-peeled  potatoes  into  another,  leave  her  bread 
burning  in  the  oven,  and  with  sleeves  rolled  to  the  elbow,  grasp  with 
frantic  haste  her  shawl  and  bonnet  and  rush  to  the  polls  to  cast  her 
vote  for  the  next  President,  that  she  may  thereby  become  a  skilled 
workwoman  and  an  independent  thinker.  It  is  not  necessary  that 
fathers  should  rock  the  cradles  and  darn  the  family  stockings,  while 
mothers  heroically  march  to  the  ballot  box  to  deposit  their  tickets,  in 
order  that  woman’s  intellect  shall  be  so  enlightened  as  to  be  able  to 
solve  the  mysteries  of  political  economy.  Whatever  opinions  we 
hold  regarding  the  desirability  or  undesirability  of  woman’s  suffrage, 
this  problem,  at  least,  lies  within  woman’s  unquestioned  sphere,  and 
her  brain  must  devise  the  remedy,  and  her  skill  and  patience  work 
it  out. 

There  is  also  in  this  connection,  ‘  ‘  The  Servant  Girls’  point  of 
view,”  so  clearly  and  justly  stated  by  Mrs.  Amelia  E.  Barr,  in  a 
recent  number  of  the  North  American  Review.  We  cull  here  a 
few  sentences  from  this  admirable  article.  Mrs.  Barr  says:  ‘‘It  is 
said  that  servants  every  year  grow  more  idle,  showy,  impudent  and 
independent.  The  last  charge  is  emphatically  true,  and  it  accounts 
for,  and  includes  the  others.  But  then  this  independence  is  the 
necessary  result  of  the  world’s  progress,  in  which  all  classes  share. 
Fifty  years  ago,  very  few  servants  read,  or  cared  to  read.  They  are 
now  the  best  patrons  of  a  certain  class  of  newspapers.  One  of  the 
main  causes  of  trouble  is,  that  a  mistress  even  yet  hires  her  servant 
with  some  ancient  ideas  about  her  inferiority.  Mistresses  must  now 
dismiss  from  their  minds  the  idea  of  the  old  family  servant  they 
have  learned  to  meet  in  novels.  They  must  realize  and  practically 
acknowledge  the  fact  that  the  relation  between  mistress  and  servant 
is  now  on  a  purely  commercial  basis,  the  modern  servant  being  a 
person  who  takes  a  certain  sum  of  money  for  the  performance  of 
certain  duties.  It  is  true  enough,  that  servants  take  the  money  and 
do  not  perform  the  duties,  or  else  perform  them  very  badly!  but  as 
soon  as  domestic  service  is  authoritatively  and  publicly  made  a  com¬ 
mercial  bargain,  and  all  other  ideas  eliminated  from  it,  service  will 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


117 

attract  a  much  higher  grade  of  women.  Domestic  service  is  as  hon¬ 
orable  as  mechanical  service,  and  the  woman  who  can  cook  a  good 
dinner,  is  quite  as  important  to  society  as  the  man  who  makes  the 
table  on  which  it  is  served.  The  carrying  out  of  three  points  would 
probably  revolutionize  the  whole  condition  of  service: 

First. — The  relation  should  be  put  upon  an  absolutely  commercial 
basis,  and  made  as  honorable  as  mechanical,  or  factory,  or  store 
service. 

Second. — Duties  and  hours  should  be  clearly  defined.  There 
should  be  no  interference  in  personal  matters. 

Third. — If  it  were  possible  to  induce  yearly  engagements,  they 
should  be  the  rule;  for  when  people  know  they  have  to  put  up  with 
each  other  for  twelve  months,  they  are  more  inclined  to  be  patient 
and  forbearing,” 

These  are  only  a  few  points  so  suggestively  treated  by  Mrs.  Barr. 
In  a  recent  article  in  one  of  our  journals,  Mary  Hinman  Abel  thus 
writes : 

‘‘There  are  some  8,000,000  homes  in  this  country  and  the 
expenditure  to  maintain  these  homes  reaches  into  the  billions. 
It  is  granted  on  all  sides  that  there  is  a  great  waste  of  money, 
of  time  and  of  energy  in  these  homes;  to  put  it  as  one  of  our 
economists  has  done,  the  money-earning  of  this  people  is  excellent, 
but  their  money-spending  capacity  is  poor— that  is,  in  the  sense  of 
spending  wisely  and  securing  a  just  reward.”  The  same  writer 
describes  a  “  Housekeepers’  Club,  recently  formed  in  a  western  city, 
where  the  members  meet  weekly  for  discussion  of  domestic  topics. 
Among  the  subjects  discussed  at  this  club,  were  the  following: 

“  The  service  question — Co-operative  housekeeping — House  build¬ 
ing  as  compared  with  house  renting — The  food  bill  of  the  family,  in¬ 
cluding  practicable  bills  of  fare  to  be  furnished  at  $1.50  and  $2  a 
week  apiece,  for  the  food  material;  one  of  the  members  having  ex¬ 
perimented  to  test  the  point.  The  expenditure  of  the  family  income, 
that  of  the  workingman,  of  the  clerk,  and  of  the  moderately  well-to- 
do  family.  How  the  work  to  be  done  in  the  average  family  shall  be 
best  apportioned  to  the  working  days  of  the  week,  and  the  best 
methods  of  performing  it;  what  was  the  practical  outcome  to  be  ob¬ 
tained  from  such  discussions.” 


1 1 8 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Such  domestic  science  clubs  would  become  a  great  factor  in  the 
practical  solving  of  many  of  the  household  problems.  What  are 
some  of  the  remedies  for  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  ideal  homes  ? 
Time,  patience,  and  persistent  forthputting  in  the  right  directions. 
What  are  some  of  the  right  directions  ?  Not  by  the  mother  and 
wife  turning  herself  into  a  drudge.  Her  muscle  won’t  solve  the  dif¬ 
ficulty.  Ideal  housekeeping  cannot  be  reached  by  her  performing 
the  work  she  pays  her  servants  to  do.  In  our  modern  complicated 
domestic  departments,  one  pair  of  hands  can  no  more  perform  all  the 
labor  of  a  household  than  a  man  of  business  could  himself  superin¬ 
tend,  and  at  the  same  time  personally  perform  all  the  labor  required 
in  the  different  departments  of  a  large  manufactory.  We  cannot 
revolutionize  the  times,  but  each  housekeeper  and  home-maker  can 
add  her  efforts  to  the  progress  of  the  age  in  the  right  direction. 
How  may  women  of  the  present  day  help  to  clear  the  way  ?  By  pro¬ 
moting  every  enterprise  which  shall  encourage  skilled  labor,  not  only 
in  the  trades  and  the  arts,  but  in  domestic  departments;  such  as 
kitchen  gardens  for  the  children  of  the  laboring  classes  who  are  to 
grow  up  into  the  servants  of  the  next  generation;  also  training 
schools  for  domestic  labor,  where  young  girls  shall  be  taught  thor¬ 
oughly  all  the  departments  of  housework  and  cookery.  Thus  doing, 
the  time  will  come  when  no  servant  will  be  hired  without  a  diploma 
from  some  training  school,  and  a  girl  will  as  much  expect  to  fit 
herself  for  house-maid  or  cook,  as  for  dressmaker  or  any  trade. 

Outside  of  the  servant  question,  what  are  some  of  the  means  by 
which  present  wives  and  mothers  help  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
ideal  homes  of  the  future?  In  Bulwer’s  charming  and  most  in¬ 
genious  little  book,  entitled:  “  The  Coming  Race;” — after  prophe¬ 
sying  of  many  of  the  marvellous  improvements  which  might  take 
place,  he  proceeds  to  give  the  inhabitants  of  that  delightful  country, 
wonderful  mechanisms  in  the  form  of  wings,  which  when  fastened  in 
place,  enabled  their  owner  to  fly  in  the  air  as  easily  as  with  his  feet  he 
could  walk  upon  the  ground.  This  was  all  very  fine,  but  the  narrow 
views  of  that  time,  which  still  prejudiced  the  author  in  spite  of  all  his 
foresight,  was  the  statement,  that  only  married  women  were  deprived 
of  wings;  she  being  obliged  upon  her  wedding  day,  to  take  them  oft 
forever  and  hang  them  upon  the  wall  in  her  room,  where  they  should 


IVHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


119 

continually  remind  her  of  her  subjection  to  her  husband’s  will.  Thus 
Lord  Lytton,  with  all  his  ingenious  and  prophetic  imagination,  failed 
to  rightly  forecast  woman’s  real  and  possible  position  in  the  home. 
Not  only  in  the  ideal  homes  of  the  future,  but  even  in  those  of  the 
present,  woman  has  need,  most  assuredly,  of  the  wings  of  knowledge, 
culture,  and  enlightened  intuitions.  And  in  these  days  wives  and 
mothers  would  be  the  last  to  be  forced  to  hang  up  their  wings  of 
social  power,  and  home  influence;  and  men  most  generously  declare, 
that  if  any  beings  in  the  present  race  are  blessed  with  the  embryo 
wings  of  angelic  spirits,  it  must  be  their  honored  American  wives, 
mothers  and  daughters. 

As  Lilian  Whiting  fitly  said:  “  The  art  of  selection  is  the  art  of 
true  living.  A  woman  can  accomplish  little  whose  life  is  a  series  of 
crises;  a  kaleidoscopic  rush;  a  glimpse  of  dissolving  views.  The  dis¬ 
crimination  to  see,  and  the  resolution  to  effect  desirable  eliminations, 
are  quite  as  potent  in  the  building  up  of  life,  and  in  the  refining  and 
elevating  of  its  quality,  as  are  the  things  that  are  chosen.  The  keen¬ 
est  ‘silhouette’  of  Mr.  Edgar  Fawcett’s  series  of  social  satires,  is  that 
of  the  woman  who  makes  a  martyr  of  herself  by  going  to  places  and 
entertainments  for  which  she  cares  nothing,  in  order  to  have  it  known 
that  she  has  been  invited.  Our  existence  is  mostly  a  war  of  accumu¬ 
lations,  of  books,  events,  and  people.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  read 
everything,  to  go  everywhere,  to  see  everybody,  for  all  of  which  op¬ 
portunities  offer,  without  losing,  in  this  rush  of  life,  the  power  to  take 
a  distinct  impression.  Now  to  hold  one’s  self  susceptible  to  impres¬ 
sions,  to  keep  one’s  self  en  rapport  with  select  and  sympathetic  cur¬ 
rents,  to  be  responsive  to  the  finer  and  subtler  influences,  is  to  hold 
the  key  to  the  situation.  ’  ’ 

Surely  this  writer  has  solved  one  of  the  great  causes  of  superficial 
knowledge  and  ineffectual  labor.  It  is  this  want  of  selection  which 
occasions  the  dilettante,  would-be  aesthetical  affectation  of  modern 
times;  which  makes  of  too  many  persons  mental  dudes,  attired  in  the 
outward  adornments  of  a  smattering  of  fashionable  information,  but 
in  reality  not  possessed  of  any  practically  useful  ideas. 

After  a  proper  selection,  comes  economy  of  time.  Not  an  en¬ 
deavor  to  consume  time  by  reinstating  antique  customs  which  are 
behind  this  age  of  improvement.  The  investment  of  time  must  be 


120 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


as  wisely  undertaken  by  women  as  paying  financial  investments  by 
men.  Seconds  must  be  hoarded  with  as  much  care  as  dollars. 
Then  comes  system.  Actions  must  be  governed  by  plans  fully 
marked  out;  not  left  for  the  haphazard  moment  to  suggest.  In  the 
ideal  homes  of  the  future,  fanciful  notions  regarding  table  and  home 
furnishing,  which  goes  beyond  simple  elegance,  and  becomes  the 
bizarre  style  of  decoration,  which  has  turned  so  many  elegant  homes 
of  modern  times  into  Japanese  curiosity  shops,  will  be  superseded  by 
refined  and  permanent  adornment;  and  home  life  will  be  moulded  by 
practical  information,  the  skilled  superintendence  of  trained  labor,  the 
quiet  repose  which  follows  systematic  economy  of  time,  and  the  vast 
intellectual  advancement  which  lies  in  the  power  of  those  who  improve 
all  possible  opportunities,  and  wisely  select  those  pursuits  and  pleas¬ 
ures  best  adapted  for  the  fullest  development  of  their  individual 
natures  and  God-given  talents. 

What  women  of  this  age  in  America  need  is  not  an  enlarged 
sphere,  for  in  our  days  woman’s  place  in  the  world  is  bounded  only 
by  her  own  capabilities  and  highest  possible  development;  but  we  re¬ 
quire  the  physical  endurance  of  all  our  great  great-grandmothers  put 
together.  In  our  land,  at  the  present  day,  woman  has  every  right 
which  she  has  thus  far  shown  herself  competent  to  maintain;  and 
every  avenue  is  open  to  her  ambition  which  her  mental  powers  and 
skilled  training  shall  demonstrate  her  fitness  to  enter.  But  she  must 
remember  that  when  she  meets  man  in  the  political,  theological,  scien¬ 
tific,  or  metaphysical  arena,  she  must  stand  or  fall,  exactly  according 
to  the  same  standards  by  which  he  is  measured,  according  to  her 
mental  strength  and  logical  conclusions,  founded  upon  indisputable 
premises  and  acknowledged  axioms;  and  not  imagine  that  simply  be¬ 
cause  she  is  a  woman,  ungrammatical  speech,  illogical  arguments, 
nasal  tones,  and  whining  exhortations  must  perforce  be  accepted  out 
of  very  gallantry  to  her  sex.  As  Marion  Harland  so  aptly  expressed 
it  in  a  recent  Review  article:  “Woman — with  a  capital  letter — 
should  by  now  have  ceased  to  be  a  specialty.  There  should  be  no 
more  need  of  ‘  ‘  movements  ’  ’  in  her  behalf,  and  agitations  for  her  ad¬ 
vancement  and  development  considered  apart  from  the  general  good 
of  mankind,  than  for  the  abolition  of  negro  slavery  in  the  United 
States.  With  the  world  of  knowledge  and  opportunity  thrown  open 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


121 


to  her,  it  argues  little  for  her  ambition  and  less  for  her  ability  to  grasp 
cardinal  principles,  that  she  elects  to  build  fences  about  her  reserva¬ 
tion,  and  expends  time  and  forces  in  patrolling  precincts  nobody  cares 
to  attack.  I  am  glad  the  question  for  discussion  to-day  does  not 
contain  the  word  ‘woman,’  said  a  member  of  a  celebrated  literary 
club.  I  am  weary  of  the  pretentious  dissyllable,  and  satiated  with  in¬ 
cessant  twaddle  of  ‘  woman’s  progress,’  ‘woman’s  work  for  woman,’ 
and  the  ninety  and  nine  variations  upon  that  one  string.  By  this 
time  we  ought  to  be  there  if  we  are  ever  to  arrive.  I  am  half-sick  of 
womanhood!  I  want  to  be  a  human  being.’  ” 

Surely  Marion  Harland  grasps  the  situation.  It  is  not  more  riches 
in  the  way  of  opportunities  which  are  the  crying  needs  of  woman  in 
this  day,  but  like  the  nouveau  riche ,  she  squanders  with  ignorant  and 
lavish  extravagance,  her  golden  hoard  of  man-conceded  equality  of 
rights,  in  every  possible  direction,  irrespective  of  the  wisdom  or  suc¬ 
cess  of  the  investment  of  time  or  labor. 

In  these  days,  to  every  woman  comes  the  stirring  question;  What 
can  I  make  of  my  own  life  ?  In  benevolent  and  missionary  enter¬ 
prises,  she  has  long  taken  the  lead.  Now,  literature,  music,  art, 
science,  medicine,  metaphysics,  philosophy,  theology  and  trade  are 
open  to  her  ambition. 

In  the  possible  ideal  homes  of  the  future,  home  comforts  in 
housekeeping  being  secured  by  trained  service;  ideal  home-making 
will  not  be  a  visionary  aspiring,  but  a  practical  reality.  Mothers  can 
be  skilled  superintendents  overlooking  with  systematic  care  every 
department;  but  leisure  will  be  found  for  personal  culture,  because 
their  physical  energies  will  not  be  exhausted,  nor  their  time  frittered 
away  by  constant  attention  to  ignorant  and  careless  blunders  of 
others.  As  the  thought  of  the  mother  is  indelibly  impressed  upon 
the  child;  when  her  life  is  freer,  and  her  mental  powers  more 
highly  developed,  and  her  spiritual  horizon  broadened  by  an  ever 
increasing  understanding  of  the  practical  demonstrable  verity  that 
divine  love  can  so  be  realized  in  consciousness  by  the  transforming 
power  of  Omnipotent  Truth,  that  Christly  living  will  harmonize  the 
most  discordant  elements  in  daily  thought  and  action;  then  the 
Christ-like  character  of  the  mother  will  shed  a  continual  radiance 
through  an  entire  household.  Her  children  will  then  be  born  with 


122 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


less  inherited  evil  to  overcome,  and  more  strength  of  body  and  mind 
to  be  moulded  by  the  greater  enlightenment  of  a  mother’s  richer, 
broader  and  more  disciplined  nature. 

Mothers  will  find  that  the  more  they  cultivate  their  own  talents 
the  more  will  the  talents  of  their  children  be  cultivated.  Children 
delight  in  imitating  older  persons.  Whatever  the  mother  does, 
the  child  wants  to  do,  and  much  of  the  drudgery  in  learning 
music,  art,  and  even  literature,  will  be  unconsciously  overcome 
by  the  child,  who  thinks  she  is  only  playing,  while  in  reality, 
she  is  studying,  practising  or  drawing  with  the  most  persistent 
perseverance,  in  imitation  of  mamma;  whereas,  the  same  amount  of 
labor  demanded  from  the  child  as  a  lesson,  would  be  wearisome  and 
irritating.  This  fact  experience  most  clearly  proves. 

In  future  ideal  American  homes,  husbands  will  not  find  in  their 
wives,  beings  clamoring  for  unwomanly  occupations;  but  rather, 
companions,  their  equal  in  refined  information;  their  wise  counsellors 
in  the  practical  questions  of  the  day,  and  sympathizing  advisers 
regarding  their  individual  pursuits.  Woman’s  keen-witted  intuitions 
and  man’s  careful  deliberations  will  go  hand  in  hand.  Home  life 
will  be  more  and  more  a  foretaste  of  Paradise,  and  the  refining, 
elevating  and  christianizing  influences  of  American  homes  will  be 
felt  to  the  uttermost  limits  of  the  globe. 


Mrs.  Henry  Ward  Beecher. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


CLERGYMEN’S  WIVES. 

BY  MRS.  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER. 

YOUR  request  to  “write  about  ministers’  wives’’ — doubtless 
refers  to  their  duties  and  obligations  as  distinct  from  that  of 
the  wives  of  other  professional  men. 

Are  their  duties  very  dissimilar  from  that  of  all  married  women  ?  Is 
not  the  first  and  most  important  work  for  all  wives,  a  faithful  discharge 
of  such  home  duties  as  should  make  home  next  to  the  very  gate  of 
Heaven  ?  If  this  work  is  constantly  before  the  mind  as  the  first  and 
chief  duty,  a  minister’s  wife  may  then,  with  a  clear  conscience,  use  her 
few  spare  hours  in  such  work  in  her  husband’s  church  and  elsewhere, 
if  needed,  as  may  bring  all  those  over  whom  she  has  influence,  into 
closer  union  with  each  other,  and  help  to  promote  and  encourage 
active  labor  in  every  good  work. 

But  we  think  few  realize  how  much  the  home  duties  of  a  minister’s 
wife  can  “strengthen  his  hands  and  encourage  his  heart.’’  No  man 
so  much  needs  the  help  his  wife  can  give  him,  at  home ,  as  a  clergy¬ 
man.  Especially  is  this  the  case  in  large  cities  where  he  is  liable  to 
be  called  upon  to  give  much  time  and  labor  to  outside  work — not 
absolutely  connected  with  his  own  church.  People  do  not  reflect 
that  under  such  circumstances,  he  needs  more  of  his  wife’s  help  than 
most  professional  men. 

If  the  wife  is  expected  to  lead — or  take  an  active  part  in  parish 
work — in  all  the  charitable  and  missionary  associations  connected 
with  the  church,  what  time  can  she  have  for  such  home  service ,  as 
can  save  her  husband  from  constant  interruptions  ?  Who  but  the 
wife  should  be  ever  ready  to  relieve  him  from  the  numerous  and  often 
important  calls,  and  be  able,  frequently,  to  give  such  answers  as  will 


124 


THE  NAT/OJVAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


be  satisfactory,  without  any  interruption  to  her  husband  ?  Who 
but  the  wife  can  take  charge  of  the  numerous  letters  brought  by  al¬ 
most  every  mail,  and  answer  most  of  them  herself,  without  his  studies 
or  labors  being  disturbed  by  them  ? 

The  help  and  relief  a  minister’s  wife  can  give  her  husband,  in 
these  and  many  other  ways,  will  enable  him  to  do  tenfold  more  good 
in  his  parish,  than  she  could  possibly  do  if  she  presided  over  every 
society  connected  with  the  church. 

There  are  always  many  good,  capable  women  in  every  church, 
even  better  fittted  to  take  charge  of  such  societies  than  their  pastor’s 
wife  is.  But  they  could  not  give  him  the  help  and  relief  she  can 
bring  him,  in  their  home;  we  by  no  means  would  be  understood  to 
imply  that  a  minister’s  wife  should  not  be  interested  in  all  work  for  the 
church  and  fully  appreciative  of  the  labors  these  women  are  actively 
engaged  in  and  ever  ready  to  assist  them,  and  work  with  them  when¬ 
ever  she  can.  But  we  do  not  believe  that  she  should  be  expected  to 
make  such  work  her  first  duty;  on  the  contrary,  we  believe  she 
would  do  wrong  if  she  attempted  to  do  so. 


Mrs.  Jessie  Benton  Fremont. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  WIVES  OF  ARMY  OFFICERS 


BY  JESSIE  BENTON  FREMONT.* 


HERE  is  nothing  more  puzzling  than  to  make  one  answer  fit  to 


1  a  varied  subject,  such  as  this  I  have  been  asked  to  write  upon. 
“  Souvent  femme  varie  ’  ’  and  women  do  not  cease  to  vary  because 
married  into  the  army,  but  there  are  certain  army  conditions  into 
which  women  can  fit  and  be  moulded  with  high  advantage  to  them¬ 
selves — always  providing  they  are  adaptable. 

The  wisest  man  I  have  known  used  to  instance  the  twelve  disciples 
to  show  the  difficulty  of  combining  even  a  few  men  without  faults; 
for  of  the  twelve  one  proved  to  be  a  traitor,  one  was  false,  one  an 
open  doubter,  while  others  were  timid  and  of  little  faith.  How  can 
we  hope  for  equal  merit  in  our  merely  worldly  associates  ? 

Still,  as  I  said,  there  are  fostering  conditions  for  unusual  and  real 
good  in  army  life.  Its  very  patent  disadvantage  of  cutting  off  the 
chances  for  fortune-making,  brings  the  advantage  of  creating  sim¬ 
plicity  of  living,  of  open  honorable  frugality,  and  often  that  beautiful 
content  which  can  only  come  from  a  system  of  fixed  and  secure  in¬ 
comes,  known  to  all,  and  so  preventing  all  false  appearances,  all 
petty  rivalries,  and  leaving  life  more  true,  more  simple  and  noble 
than  in  the  competitive  life  of  business  communities,  where  often 
false  appearances  are  considered  so  necessary  to  success  that  the 
family  behind  the  scenes  is  actually  trained  in  untruth. 

With  this  system  of  known  limited  incomes,  comes  the  lopping 
and  pruning  of  many  tastes  and  wishes,  and  the  gracious  habit  of 
mutual  unselfishness  is  fostered.  Their  fixed  position  gives  the 
dignified  repose  of  good  breeding  to  these  wives  of  army  men. 

♦Author  of  “  Story  of  the  Guard,  A  Chronicle  of  the  War,”  “Souvenirs  of  My  Time,”  etc. 


126 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Except  in  official  society  in  Washington  there  is  no  fixed  order  in 
our  country  outside  of  army  and  navy  circles;  theirs  is  a  defined  po¬ 
sition,  bound  to  be  respected  among  themselves  and  in  Washington 
where  there  is  a  regular  order  of  society. 

Also  from  the  nature  of  their  lives  they  gain  not  only  this  calm 
and  disciplined  mind,  but  habits  of  promptness,  of  comprehension, 
and  authority  which  make  of  them  powers  for  creating  new  condi¬ 
tions  in  the  lonely  and  far  western  posts  in  which  most  officers  wives 
pass  their  younger  energetic  years. 

To  these  far  and  sparsely  settled  communities  they  can — and  most 
do  become — guiding  centres  in  gentle  and  refining  influences,  and  as 
much  missionaries  as  those  laboring  only  in  that  field.  More  than 
one  name  of  such  a  woman  springs  into  memory,  but  I  think  of  one 
whose  Jiappy  girlhood  in  Washington  was  among  the  best  and  great¬ 
est  there — at  whose  marriage  President  Lincoln  was  a  friendly  guest — 
whose  family,  as  well  as  her  beauty,  and  gay  health,  and  talents 
made  her  welcome  and  loved.  I  think  of  her  now  after  a  life  of  de¬ 
votion  to  family  and  duty  and  “  doing  good  ”  until  her  name  leaves 
a  trail  of  pious  good  works  and  encouraging  faith  from  one  ocean  to 
the  other;  and  this  although  through  the  changes  and  vicissitudes  of 
army  life,  the  brilliant  health  was  destroyed,  but  not  the  brilliant 
mind  nor  the  sweet  nature  and  patient  well-doing  which  makes  her  a 
Soldier  of  the  Cross. 

For  although  for  sixteen  painful  years  she  can  say  with  Heine, 
“  mine  is  a  mattress  grave:  ”  Yet  loss  of  motion  has  only  concen¬ 
trated  her  unselfish  energies. 

And  I  remember  the  all-embracing  kindness  of  that  gentle  Mrs. 
Canby  whose  husband  was  to  meet  so  cruel  a  death  from  Indians  in 
northern  California.  I  was  at  Monterey  in  1849,  when  every  detail 
of  living  in  California  was  most  difficult,  and  saw  how  the  few  ladies  of 
the  garrison  there  made  the  best  of  all  things,  and  won  the  respect 
and  affectionate  friendship  of  everyone  by  their  cheerful  endurance 
of  real  privations.  Each  did  her  willing  best  to  lighten  the  loneli¬ 
ness  and  the  privations  in  our  very  far-away  and  rude  life.  Mrs. 
Canby  had  the  advantage  of  an  attached  Mexican  servant  who  had 
followed  her  husband  after  the  Mexican  war.  He  was  an  excellent 
baker,  and  this  dear  woman  was  our  volunteer  bakery,  herself  often 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


127 


bringing  the  fragrant  loaf,  and  literally  giving  us  our  daily  bread, 
with  kindest  words  of  cheer  to  the  sick  or  home-sick. 

It  is  among  the  good  “chances  of  the  whirligig  of  time,”  that 
now,  when  I  am  again  here  on  the  outer  verge  of  the  sunset  sea, 
among  my  nearest  neighbors  are  dearly-loved  members  of  Mrs. 
Canby’s  family. 

And  of  the  young  element  recruited  from  all  parts  of  our  country 
from  such  varying  conditions  of  previous  life,  how  much  could  be 
said! 

The  New  York  girl  who  never  missed  a  new  opera  or  a  first  night 
of  a  fine  play,  to  whom  every  enlarging  habit  of  travel,  of  society,  of 
music,  books,  pictures,  clever  men  and  charming  women,  were  mat¬ 
ters  of  course.  How  she  has  identified  herself  with  and  illuminated 
her  husband’s  life!  How  fully  known  to  them  has  been  that  thorough 
devoted  companionship,  utterly  unknown  in  the  usual  married  life. 
“  The  religion  of  home,”  is  not  a  mere  phrase  to  such  lives,  but  like 
true  religion,  it  is  the  glad  early  offering  of  every  power  and  faculty; 
not  a  pale  feeling,  reserved  for  age,  and  after  all  worldly  outlets  have 
been  tried  first.  What  man  would  not  be  flattered  and  live  up  to 
such  a  mark?  The  charm  of  “  army  life”  and  “army  people”  is 
felt  by  those  fortunate  enough  to  know  its  simplicity  of  hospitality, 
its  upright  beauty  of  domestic  life,  and  the  generous  comradeship 
which  makes  of  them  everywhere  one  clan  in  pride  and  mutual  help 
and  defence. 

The  enforced  concentration  of  home  life  brings  children  into  closer 
mutual  comprehension — the  very  want  of  usual  schools  leaving  the 
young  minds  open  to  the  ineffaceable  impressions  of  early  childhood 
— bringing  them  only  into  the  wholesome  atmosphere  of  self-control 
and  duty.  The  little  girls  become  willing  aids  to  the  mother  in  sweet 
household  duties  and  the  graces  of  true  hospitality,  while  the  father 
gives  to  his  young  sons  the  old  Persian  training,  ‘  ‘  to  ride,  to  shoot, 
to  speak  the  truth.” 

One  day,  long  ago,  we  were  a  group  around  the  door  of  St.  John’s 
Church,  that  memory-dowered  little  old  church  on  President’s  Square 
Jn  Washington.  A  bride  was  driving  off  to  her  new  home,  and  her 
young  friends  showered  farewells  and  roses,  and  rice  and  slippers. 
An  older  woman  said  harshly,  “Now  that  is  the  only  proper 


128 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


marriage  we  have  had  in  a  long  while — she  goes  off  in  her  own 
coach  and  four  to  her  fine  country  seat  in  Maryland,  to  come  back 
to  her  town  house  in  Washington  for  the  winter,  while  the  rest 
of  you  girls  have  been  marrying  poor  devils  of  army  and  navy 
officers.” 

Well,  life  is  not  lived  in  one  day.  Those  “  army  and  navy  men  ” 
who  had  the  certainty  of  being  married  for  themselves,  did  they  not 
endow  their  brides  with  names  they  wrote  high  on  the  pages  of 
American  history  ? 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  AMERICAN  SALON. 

THE  TRUE  AMERICAN  ARISTOCRACY.  SOCIETY 
PECULIARITIES  OF  DIFFERENT 
AMERICAN  CITIES 

EDITORIAL. 

IN  reading  of  French  and  English  salons,  such  as  those  of  Madame 
Recamier,  Madame  Roland  and  Lady  Blessington,  of  whom  it  is 
said  that  she  was  the  only  Englishwoman  who  ever  kept  a  real 
salon ,  except  Lady  Holland,  the  question  often  arises,  how  can 
ladies  in  our  republic  found  an  American  salon  which  shall  be 
free  from  the  objectionable  characteristics  of  such  foreign  assemblies, 
and  retain  those  important  features  which  gained  for  the  notable 
salons  of  the  past  recognition  as  the  most  influential  adjuncts  of  the 
state  ? 

Heretofore,  American  society  has  been  lounded  upon  a  very 
fluctuating  basis.  But  as  the  true  American  aristocracy  becomes 
recognized,  and  the  social  American  Queens  rule  by  right  of 
rank  secured  by  cultured  minds,  and  courteous  manners,  and 
royal  precedent  of  loyal  hearts  and  moral  courage;  the  American 
salon  will  become  a  potent  power  in  the  progress  of  national 
civilization;  and  the  moulding  and  guiding  of  such  a  beneficial 
social  institution,  depends  upon  American  women. 

The  salons  of  the  past  took  the  place  largely  of  our  modem 
magazines  and  periodicals.  Men  and  women  met  in  those  assem¬ 
blies  to  discuss  matters  of  politics  and  literature,  regarding  which 
information  could  not  otherwise  be  so  readily  obtained. 

Now,  one  can  acquire  all  necessary  news  relating  to  topics  of  the 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


130 

day,  without  leaving  one’s  own  library;  and  social  conversation  has 
therefore  become  largely  a  thing  of  the  past,  degenerating  into  use¬ 
less  chit-chat,  or  personal  gossip. 

A  reaction  is  already  setting  in,  and  the  social  atmosphere 
betokens  hopeful  signs  of  progress  towards  the  realization  of  an 
American  salon. 

In  the  stately  assemblies  in  the  early  days  of  our  republic,  when 
Lady  Washington  moved  among  her  distinguished  guests  with  a 
calm  repose  and  royal  dignity  of  presence,  which  betokened  an 
inheritance  of  queenly  virtues  that  no  imperial  purple  could  bestow; 
and  when  Dolly  Madison  flashed  forth  her  brilliant  sallies  of  wit  with 
the  independence  of  thought  that  had  become  the  birthright  of  our 
nation;  social  gatherings  were  the  chief  avenues  of  reaching  the 
minds  of  distinguished  men  and  women  whose  opinions  were  to 
mould  the  thoughts  of  the  people  so  lately  emancipated  by  their 
heroic  struggle  from  the  shackles  of  the  Old  World’s  bondage, 
which  had  enslaved  not  only  their  national  institutions,  but  their 
individual  freedom  of  thought  and  action. 

In  modern  times  the  moulding  of  public  opinion  has  been  largely 
the  province  of  the  press,  and  though  thereby  national  intelligence 
has  been  increased,  social  gatherings  have  lost  their  past  prestige  of 
moral  and  intellectual  influence,  becoming  merely  formal  and  burden¬ 
some  obligations  laid  upon  those  whose  positions  or  ambitions  kept 
them  within  the  wearying  social  whirl. 

During  this  period  woman  has  been  slowly  developing  her  mental 
powers  and  assuming  her  enlarged  responsibilities  consequent  upon 
the  progressive  steps  of  our  national  civilization,  towards  the  standard 
of  God-given  equality  and  individual  rights,  irrespective  of  race, 
color  or  sex. 

And  now  dawns  a  new  era  in  social  circles.  Woman  is  unquestion¬ 
ably  within  her  universally  acknowledged  sphere,  when  she  accepts 
the  exalted  obligation  of  making  the  American  salon,  the  precedent 
and  exemplification  of  all  desirable  social  influences  towards  a  more 
lofty  ideal  of  American  society. 

As  in  the  assemblies  of  the  heroic  past,  when  men  displayed  their 
exalted  patriotism  by  word  and  spirit,  as  well  as  their  chivalrous 
courtesy  by  adherence  to  custom  and  manners,  and  women  did  not 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


131 


lay  aside  their  loyal  enthusiasm  and  regal  aspirations  when  they  as¬ 
sumed  their  quaint  and  picturesque  ball-attire;  so  in  the  American 
salon  of  the  future,  fashionable  costumes  will  not  necessitate  an  ac¬ 
companying  vacuity  of  mind,  and  social  gatherings  amongst  the 
cultured  and  refined,  will  no  longer  be  merely  a  wearying  mockery 
of  enlightened  conversation.  “An  American  can  have  the  best 
manners  in  the  world  for  he  has  nothing  to  crush  him.  Every  man 
is  his  own  master,  and  no  titled  aristocracy  can  awe  into  insignificance 
the  truly  cultured  and  refined.  Brain  aristocrats  are  free-born,  and 
in  our  land  no  rights  of  kings  can  take  from  them  their  royal  pre¬ 
rogative  of  power.  The  proud  remark  of  the  great  Napoleon,  ‘Je 
sms  mon  ancetre,  (I  am  my  own  ancestor,)’  can  be  repeated  by  many 
big-brained  men  of  genius  in  our  progressive  country,  where  self- 
made  success  is  the  birthright  of  our  nation,  and  American  women 
are  the  present  and  the  future  of  American  aristocracy.  She  is  the 
Republic.  Let  her  not  pose  as  the  shameless  goddess  of  liberty  of 
the  French  Revolution,  but  rather  as  the  gentle-eyed  Madonna.” 

To  entertain  others  acceptably  and  successfully,  demands  attention 
to  various  things.  Among  them  may  be  enumerated  voice,  manners, 
tact,  accomplishments,  imagination,  individuality,  politeness,  educa¬ 
tion,  wit,  brevity,  repartee,  ethics  of  dress  and  the  art  of  conversa¬ 
tion.  Edward  Everett  Hale  says:  “  There  is  no  particular  method 
about  talking,  or  talking  well.  It  is  one  of  the  things  in  life  which 
‘does  itself,  ’  and  if  one  fails  in  talking  it  is  always  because  they  have 
not  yet  applied  the  simple  master  rules  of  life.  ‘  Tell  the  truth,’ 

‘  confess  ignorance,’  and  ‘  talk  to  the  person  who  is  talking  to  you.’ 
An  author  says:  “  No  good  talker  is  obtrusive,  thrusting  forward 
his  observations  on  men  and  things.  He  is  rather  receptive,  trying 
to  get  at  other  people’s  observations.  There  are  unsounded  depths 
in  a  man’s  nature,  of  which  he  himself  knows  nothing  till  they  are 
revealed  to  him  by  the  plash  and  ripple  of  his  own  conversation  with 
other  men.”  Another  rule  of  good  conversation  maybe  thus  stated: 
“  Never  undervalue  your  interlocutor.” 

This  does  not  interfere  with  the  equally  important  rule  of  adapting 
our  conversation  to  the  supposed  knowledge  and  capability  of  the 
person  we  are  addressing.  Perfect  tact  has  the  rare  intuition  of 
determining  quickly  and  sensitively  what  subjects  would  naturally 


132 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


interest  persons  of  certain  pursuits,  tastes,  reputation  or  social 
standing. 

“Manner  is  everything  with  some  people  and  something  with 
everybody;’’  said  Bishop  Middleton,  and  ease  of  manner  can  only 
become  habitual  by  acquiring  gracefulness  and  naturalness  of  pose, 
and  then  remembering  that  others  are  probably  totally  indifferent  to 
where  we  are  standing,  or  what  we  are  doing,  being  absorbed  in  their 
own  individual  interests. 

Lady  Waldegrave  was  said  to  possess  in  perfection,  “  L'  art  de 
tenir  salon ,  (the  art  of  holding  a  salon.)”  She  was  never  afraid 
to  bow  first,  to  call  first,  to  speak  first.  She  knew  the  value  of 
courtesy. 

In  England,  it  is  said,  people  are  never  introduced  at  a  dinner; 
every  one  speaks  to  his  next  neighbor,  or  the  person  opposite,  with¬ 
out  introduction  and  with  delightful  courtesy;  but  in  America  the 
restraint  is  such,  that  “two  ladies  will  meet,  gaze  at  each  other  as 
if  they  belonged  to  hostile  tribes  of  Indians,  desiring  only  each  other’s 
scalps,  because,  forsooth,  they  have  not  been  introduced.”  The 
best  rule  seems  to  be  that  the  house  wherein  ladies  meet  as  invited 
guests  should  be  sufficient  introduction  to  exchange  the  common¬ 
places  of  courtesy,  even  though  they  should  never  meet  again. 

The  art  of  entertaining  acceptably  requires  ease  of  manners  and 
agreeable  inflections  of  voice. 

‘  ‘American  women  are  seldom  taught  to  speak  with  a  clear  anti¬ 
nasal  voice.  There  is  not  enough  attention  given  to  elocution  as 
applied  to  ordinary  conversation,  and  reading  aloud,  that  beautiful 
art  so  much  neglected.  The  English  are  far  ahead  of  us  in  this 
accomplishment,  of  a  pleasing  speaking  voice  and  a  refined  intona¬ 
tion.  Whether  it  is  our  climate  and  the  many  severe  colds  which 
our  ancestors  must  have  taken  on  Plymouth  Rock,  and  which 
effectually  ruined  the  larynx  of  their  decendants,  it  is  certain  that  the 
bronchial  membrane  and  the  larynx  do  not  respond  as  well  in  this 
country  as  in  England.  American  women  are  almost  always  beauti¬ 
ful.  It  is  only  when  the  peacock  begins  to  sing  or  talk  that  we  dis¬ 
cover  that  beauty  does  not  always  strike  in.” 

A  certain  amount  of  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  etiquette  is  indis¬ 
pensable;  but  this  knowledge,  like  the  necessary  rudiments  of 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


133 


education,  should  be  so  familiar  as  to  lose  all  semblance  of  art  in  the 
naturalness  of  native  politeness. 

W e,  all  of  us,  have  met  people  whose  powers  of  voice  and  manners 
■exercised  an  irresistible  fascination.  “They  would  always  be  the 
fashion,  for  they  are  the  types  after  which  fashion  should  be  modelled. 

The  etiquette  of  a  musical  or  literary  salon  demands  punctuality, 
and  silence  during  the  performance  of  every  part  of  the  musical,  or 
literary  programme.  The  rooms  should  be  cool,  not  over  crowded, 
-and  the  lights  well  shaded,  for  the  enjoyment  of  music  or  literature 
is  greatly  lessened  by  such  inharmonious  surroundings,  as  hot  rooms, 
uncomfortable  positions  and  too  glaring  light.  As  to  the  item  of 
refreshments,  when  considered  in  the  art  of  entertaining,  suffice  it  to 
say,  a  well-bred  hostess  will  lean  towards  simplicity,  rather  than 
ostentatious  munificence. 

Success  in  society  is  like  electricity,  it  makes  itself  felt,  and  yet  is 
unseen  and  cannot  be  described.  Intelligence  and  tact  are  indis- 
pensible,  but  accomplishments,  such  as  talent  for  music,  art,  or  elo¬ 
cution,  are  aids  to  popularity. 

Wit,  that  is  true  humor,  and  sometimes  elegant  satire,  sheathed  in 
a  soft  flowing  melody  of  words,  may  fascinate,  like  the  flash  of 
diamonds  half  veiled  by  shimmering  laces. 

Sarcasm  should  be  used  only  to  repel  an  insult  or  defeat  an  ill- 
bred  attack.  Wit  which  descends  to  jokes  is  not  a  polite  manner  of 
entertaining.  But  the  melodious  laughter  and  decorous  mirth  should 
be  occasioned  by  brilliant  repartee,  and  elegant  story-telling,  which 
is  an  art  of  rare  accomplishment,  as  we  all  readily  perceive  when  we 
remember  how  few  of  our  acquaintances  can  tell  an  acceptable  story 
in  a  polished  and  charming  manner.  The  wit  of  one  age  is  said  to 
be  the  stupidity  of  the  next.  But  I  think  the  true  refinement  of  this 
age  would  prefer  the  elegant  humor  of  an  Addison,  Sidney  Smith, 
Swift,  Steele  or  Sheridan,  to  the  coarse  modem  so-called  wit  of  bad 
spelling  and  bad  pronunciation. 

Of  the  social  reputation  of  our  prominent  cities  I  have  culled  the 
following:  “  In  Washington,  where  intellectual  prominence  or  what 
we  Yankees  call  ‘  smartness,’  and  what  the  English  term  ‘  cleverness,’ 
prevails,  the  natural  inquiry  would  be:  ‘  What  does  he  or  she  know? 
Can  he  talk  well?  What  is  he?  In  consequence  the  society  at 


1 34 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Washington  is  quite  unparalleled  in  agreeability.  If  there  is  anything 
in  a  man  or  woman,  it  is  manifested  in  Washington.  It  is  the  city  of 
agreeable  conversations;  it  is  the  sphere  of  charming  little  dinners. 
No  one  can  be  local  or  narrow  at  Washington.  It  is  to  be  feared  that 
society  is  somewhat  local  and  provincial  in  both  of  the  aristocratic 
cities,  Boston  and  Philadelphia. 

“  They  know  so  well  who  they  are  themselves  that  they  expect  you 
to  know.  In  Boston,  although  the  most  intellectual  of  our  cities, 
the  ‘  Athens  of  America,’  the  ‘  Hub  of  the  Universe,’  society  is  very 
local  and  condensed.  They  are  very  indifferent  to  outside  influences 
and  the  society,  to  a  stranger,  is  frigid  and  cold;  but  when  once 
penetrated  it  is  delightful.  No  one  must  attempt  however  to  storm 
it.  It  is  a  city  on  a  hill  which  cannot  be  hid;  but  it  is  well  protected 
by  the  invincible  reserve  of  its  people,  and  one  of  its  wits  has  said 
that  a  Boston  man  is  ‘condensed  east  wind,’  which  is  not  a  bad 
criticism. 

“  Philadelphia  is  far  more  open-handed  and  easy  of  access  than 
Boston,  for  the  old  Quaker  hospitality  has  been  joined  to  a  Southern 
warmth,  and  it  has  produced  a  jolly  sort  of  hospitality.  They  feed 
one  in  Philadelphia  as  if  they  intended  to  make  a  pate  de  foie  gras  of 
you,  and  they  are  delightful  hosts.  But  beware  how  you  attempt  to 
marry  one  of  their  daughters,  unless  you  have  sixteen  quarterings 
and  a  grandfather.  They  are  particular  about  a  grandfather  in 
Philadelphia. 

“Baltimore  is  a  very  hospitable,  cosmopolitan  city,  and  has  the 
cavalier  element  widely  prevalent  in  its  still  gay  society.  The 
memory  of  Lord  Baltimore  has  given  it  somewhat  of  an  English  tone, 
but  it  is  the  best  of  all  tones — there  is  nothing  snobbish  about  it. 

“  New  Orleans  had  great  charms  before  the  war — and  has  still.  It 
is  well  placed  for  hospitality,  and  the  old  French  population  insures 
gayety  and  a  freedom  from  false  economy,  or  what  seems  such.  Of 
course  New  York  is  the  ‘  Paris  of  America;’  it  is  a  French  city,  a 
German  city,  a  Spanish  city,  an  English  city,  and  a  Yankee  city. 
No  one  can  fathom  what  its  wonderful  Banyan-tree  growth  will  be  in 
a  hundred  years.  It  is  now  the  greatest  curiosity  as  to  its  abnormal 
condition  in  regard  to  etiquette.  The  sunshine  and  gladness  of  its 
climate,  its  thousand  enchantments,  its  very  quick,  passionate  pulse. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


135 


its  cosmopolitan  character,  all  tend  to  distinguish  New  York  as  the 
very  field  for  a  polite  society — for  a  perfect  and  sensible  etiquette. 
Society  is  in  a  transition  state  in  America,  and  one  is  very  glad  of 
anything  which  helps  to  settle  mooted  points — such  for  instance, 

‘  Who  shall  call  first  ?  Who  shall  be  received  ?  Who  shall  not  ?  ’ 
These  are  now  left  to  hospitality  and  the  good  nature  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual.  ’  ’ 

Regarding  Chicago,  a  recent  remark  of  one  of  America’s  great 
statesmen  will  be  in  place.  Being  asked  whether  the  extravagance 
of  Chicago  did  not  scare  him,  he  replied:  “  Everything  about  Chi¬ 
cago  scares  me!  I  am  lost  in  amazement  at  her  stupendous  push.” 

Whether  the  American  salon  par  excellence  shall  first  be  established 
in  Washington,  New  York  or  Chicago,  remains  to  be  seen. 

‘‘Merit,  even  of  the  highest,  without  a  corresponding  good  man¬ 
ner,  is  like  a  flower  without  perfume,  or  a  tree  without  leaves.  ’  ’  The 
mere  veneering  of  manner  is  not  good  breeding.  People  who  read 
only  the  current  newspapers  and  magazines  get  very  little  entertain¬ 
ment  from  each  other’s  society,  because  they  have  all  been  fed  on  the 
same  intellectual  food.  They  merely  repeat  to  each  other  the  same 
items  they  have  all  read,  and  variety,  the  spice  of  life,  is  therefore 
wanting.  It  reminds  one  of  the  pictures  in  people’s  houses  in  the 
days  of  art  unions.  ‘  ‘  An  art  union  gave  you  once  a  year  a  cheap 
engraving,  but  they  gave  the  same  engraving  to  everybody,  and  so 
in  every  house  you  might  enter  you  would  see  the  same  men  dancing 
upon  the  same  flat  boat.  Then  the  next  year  you  saw  Queen  Mary 
signing  Lady  Jane  Grey’s  death  warrant.  She  kept  signing  it  all  the 
time.  You  might  make  seventeen  calls  in  an  afternoon,  and  every¬ 
where  you  saw  her  signing  away  on  that  death  warrant.  You  came 
to  be  very  tired  of  Queen  Mary  and  the  death  warrant.  Well,  that 
is  much  the  same  way  in  which  seventeen  people  would  weary  and 
fail  to  improve  each  other  who  had  read  nothing  but  the  same  edi¬ 
tions  of  the  Daily  Times  or  the  Saturday  News."  The  science  of 
language  is  only  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  true  meaning  of  the 
words  we  are  using  every  day;  and  never  until  woman,  in  her  own 
home  circle,  becomes  the  accomplished  arbitress  of  the  best  words 
for  the  best  thoughts,  will  our  own  Anglo-Saxon  language  become 
purified  and  perfected  as  the  one  tongue. 


136 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


The  art  of  entertaining  is  founded,  outwardly,  at  least,  upon  the 
fundamental  rules  of  Christian  courtesy.  Meekness  is  the  Christian 
virtue;  modesty  is  the  manner  of  the  well-bred;  peace  is  the  Christian 
command;  harmony  is  the  social  exemplification  of  it;  self-denial  is 
a  Christian  duty;  forgetfulness  of  self  is  the  creed  of  polite  society. 
Thus  an  outward  form,  at  least,  of  Christian  courtesy  is  necessary  to 
success  in  social  circles.  Imitations  are  always  distasteful,  therefore 
each  must  be  individual  in  their  mode  of  entertaining,  for  in  this  lies 
the  witching  charm  of  novelty.  The  poet  Cowper  says: 

“  Man,  in  society,  is  like  a  flower 
Blown  in  its  native  bud — ’tis  there  alone 
His  faculties,  expanded  in  full-bloom, 

Shine  out — there  only  reach  their  proper  use.” 

The  American  salon  will  at  length  supersede  the  wearisome,  but 
at  present  necessary  afternoon  tea.  Woman  as  yet  is  in  the  mere 
infancy  of  her  mental  development,  for  she  has  only  recently  been 
allowed  to  step  beyond  the  walls  of  her  nursery,  where  her  mental 
diet  heretofore,  has  been  only  the  weak  gruels  of  small  talk,  with  an 
occasional  bon-bon  of  romance.  When  the  golden  rule  in  actual  liv¬ 
ing  shall  convert  affectation  of  affability  into  genuine  Christian  kind¬ 
liness,  social  fibs  will  not  have  to  be  told,  and  dreaded  afternoon  teas 
will  become  highly  prized  opportunities  for  the  interchange  of  lofty 
ideas  and  practical  plans  of  progress.  An  English  writer  pays  the 
following  compliment  to  the  American  woman  of  education  and 
culture: 

“Perhaps  the  peculiarity  which  first  impresses  a  stranger,  in  the 
American  woman,  is  her  astonishing  fluency  and  self-reliance  in 
speech.  New  York  and  Brooklyn  society  seems  to  abound  in  pretty 
little  petticoated  Gladstones.  Most  American  women  talk  habitually 
with  an  accuracy  which  would  bear  literal  reporting,  the  language 
reading  like  a  page  copied  out  of  a  book,  while  at  the  same  time 
there  is  a  fluency  which  never  pauses  for  a  word,  and  never  seems  to 
know  the  slightest  difficulty  in  expressing  an  idea.” 

Recognizing  the  truth  of  this  tribute  to  the  conversational  powers 
of  American  women,  of  broad  education  and  enlarged  perceptions, 
the  American  salon  seems  a  sure  accomplishment  in  the  near  future. 


Mrs.  Dorothy  Tocld.  Madison, 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


SOCIAL  LEADERS  OF  WASHINGTON. 

BY  LEONORA  B.  HAL5TED.* 

THE  city  of  Washington  is  a  product  of  the  official  pioneer  and 
in  that  is.  unique.  It  was  chosen  as  the  site  of  the  nation’s 
capital  when  a  swamp,  and  the  first  buildings  were  public  ones  of 
granite  and  marble  in  striking  contrast  to  the  flimsy  structures  run 
up  for  the  accommodation  of  those  who  had  to  sleep  and  eat  as  well  as 
govern. 

Society  began  in  the  same  official  manner.  When  the  President 
and  Mrs.  Adams  drove  through  the  forest  from  Baltimore  and 
arrived  finally  at  the  half-built  White  House  named  from  Martha 
Washington’s  maiden  home,  the  capital  had  no  society  and  no 
material  of  which  to  make  it,  for  there  were  only  three  private 
houses  within  the  city  limits.  To  form  society  under  such  circum¬ 
stances  was  as  near  creating  something  out  of  nothing  as  it  is 
possible  to  conceive,  and  only  the  necessary  presence  of  officials 
made  it  practicable. 

The  government  had  first  its  seat  in  New  York,  from  whose  Dutch 
habits  came  the  custom  of  New  Year’s  receptions  that  pleased  Wash¬ 
ington  so  much  he  hoped  it  would  never  be  discarded.  Then  the 
administration  moved  to  Philadelphia  where  the  circle  of  established 
society  was  very  brilliant,  but  equally  dissipated.  There  was  great 
prodigality,  and  gambling  was  fashionable  among  both  men  and 
women.  Against  this  extravagance  and  frivolity  the  President  and  his 
wife  determined  to  set  their  faces.  “  Everything  which  can  tend  to 
support  propriety  of  character  without  partaking  of  the  follies  of 
luxury  and  ostentation,”  are  Washington’s  own  words  as  to  the  aim 


*  Sister-in-law  of  the  Hon.  John  W.  Noble,  Ex-Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


138 

of  his  manner  of  living.  The  suit  he  wore  at  his  inauguration  was 
woven  by  his  household  and  Mrs.  Washington  displayed  once  two 
dresses  she  had  spun  in  which  the  silk  stripes  were  made  of  ravellings 
from  black  silk  stockings  and  old  crimson  chair  covers.  In  spite  of 
such  simple  living  they  maintained  strict  etiquette  in  social  affairs 
which  they  considered  necessary  to  command  the  respect  of  other 
nations  and  which  gave  them  an  unquestioned  dignity. 

Adams  observed  the  same  formulae,  but  when  the  new  capital  was 
occupied  and  Jefferson  came  into  power,  every  barrier  of  etiquette 
was  levelled,  a  social  chaos  replaced  the  rigid  dignity  of  Washington’s 
time  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  saving  grace  of  Mrs.  Madison  there 
would  have  been  no  true  society  in  the  highest  circles. 

It  is  a  fact  for  which  Americans  may  be  thankful,  that,  during  the 
first  sixteen  years  of  the  capital’s  life,  a  woman  so  capable,  so  grace¬ 
ful,  so  deservedly  popular  as  Mrs.  Madison  should  have  been  at  the 
head  of  social  affairs.  There  was  no  permanent  lady  of  the  White 
House  while  Jefferson  was  in  office,  and  Mrs.  Madison  did  what  few 
honors  he  allowed,  extending  the  charm  of  her  own  house  to  that  of 
the  President.  When  she  became  the  lady  of  the  Executive  Man¬ 
sion  she  struck  a  happy  medium  between  the  formality  of  Washing¬ 
ton’s  time  and  the  utter  lack  of  etiquette  that  made  Jefferson’s  slip¬ 
shod.  Her  lack  of  partisanship  was  marked  and  incomparably 
beneficial,  for  she  had  the  magnetism  which  brought  enemies  and 
friends  almost  equally  under  her  genial  influence.  She  had 
opinions  firm  and  true,  but  she  was  devoid  of  rancor  and  pos¬ 
sessed  the  exquisite  tact  that  more  than  all  else  distinguishes  the  true 
social  queen.  She  was  indeed  not  alone  the  first,  but  perhaps  the 
only  woman  of  “  absolute  social  genius”  that  ever  presided  in  the 
White  House.  Twenty- three  years  after  leaving  it  she  returned  to 
the  city  a  widow,  well  advanced  in  years,  and  with  only  a  modest  in¬ 
come,  but  she  was  as  popular  as  she  had  been  when  first  lady  of  the 
land.  Her  house  was  frequented  equally  by  the  most  notable  and  the 
most  fashionable.  She  was  voted  a  seat  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate, 
and  given  the  freedom  of  that  of  the  House,  the  only  time  these  had 
ever  been  accorded  to  a  woman,  and  when  she  died  the  utmost  rev¬ 
erence  was  shown  her  memory. 

The  leaders  of  society  in  those  days  had  nearly  all  been  abroad  as 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


139 


wives  of  ministers,  in  the  troublous  times  succeeding  the  Revolution, 
and  had  an  acquaintance  with  the  best  usages  of  other  countries  that 
made  them  capable  of  giving  the  right  turn  to  ours.  Moreover,  the 
social  ideal  was  formed  largely  of  a  combination  of  English  and 
French  models.  The  republican  institutions  within  which  it  grew 
naturally  led  it  to  refer  to  Roman  and  French  precedents,  and  the 
marked  part  that  France  took,  not  alone  in  befriending  us  as  a  na¬ 
tion,  but  in  guiding  our  ideas  before,  as  well  as  after  our  government 
was  formed,  emphasized  its  influence.  To  the  Carolinas  came  many 
of  the  best  blood  in  France  when  the  Huguenots  were  driven  from 
their  country,  and  in  our  Revolution  all  of  these  adhered  to  the 
cause  of  liberty.  Then  the  presence  of  the  noble  Frenchmen,  with 
La  Fayette  at  their  head,  who  fought  for  us,  and  later  the  refugees 
from  the  bloody  scenes  of  the  French  Revolution  who  brought  ex¬ 
amples  of  high  breeding  among  us,  had  much  effect  upon  society. 
Poverty  drove  them  to  sad  straits,  but  did  not  make  them  relinquish 
their  schooling;  as  for  instance,  one  who  was  afterwards  king,  Louis 
Philippe,  returned  the  hospitality  he  had  received  in  Philadelphia  by 
inviting  several  distinguished  men  to  dine  with  him  in  his  room  over 
a  barber-shop,  where  he  apologized  for  seating  half  the  company  on 
the  side  of  the  bed.  Our  English  heredity  was  of  course  the  fibre  of 
our  existence,  and  Puritan  probity,  colonial  simplicity,  French  ele¬ 
gance  and  southern  grace,  may  be  considered  the  dyes  with  which 
the  social  web  was  colored. 

The  general  constitution  of  society  in  Washington  was  from  the  first 
southern.  The  capital  was  in  a  southern  section  and  distances  were 
far  greater  in  those  days  than  ours.  Many  of  the  wives  of  members 
came  on  horseback  fifteen  hundred  miles  through  Indian  settlements; 
hence,  wealthy  planters  living  near,  thought  it  but  a  trifle  to  take 
their  families  and  a  retinue  of  slaves  to  spend  the  winter  in  town. 
Slavery  gave  the  south  leisure  while  freedom  brought  greater  com¬ 
mercial  activity  in  the  north,  and  the  west  was  still  a  land  of 
pioneers.  It  is  therefore  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  the  early 
ladies  of  the  White  House  came  from  so  many  different  parts  of  the 
country  that  all  its  elements  combined  to  give  the  accent  of  leader¬ 
ship,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  were  not  alone  leaders 
but  in  large  part  creators  of  social  life. 


140 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Mrs.  Monroe,  a  New  Yorker  of  Dutch  descent,  succeeded  Mrs. 
Madison  and  left  the  same  elevated  tone,  allowing  nothing  vulgar 
within  the  precincts  where  she  ruled.  She  knew  the  importance  of 
social  forms,  as  when  Monroe  was  minister  to  France  she  saved  the 
life  of  Madame  de  La  Fayette  by  a  ceremonious  call  at  the  prison 
where  she  was  confined. 

Mrs.  John  Quincy  Adams  came  with  much  prestige  to  the  honors 
of  the  White  House.  She  had  spent  many  years  in  Europe,  as  a 
member  of  families  representing  our  country,  and  when  her  husband 
became  Secretary  of  State  she  made  his  home  memorable  for  its 
pleasantness.  It  was  that  happy  era  of  good  feeling  when  partisan¬ 
ship  abated  its  ferocity  and  none  were  excluded  from  her  house  on 
account  of  politics.  Morals  however  were  a  different  matter.  When 
she  was  in  the  White  Flouse  she  regarded  with  great  coldness  a  friend 
who  had  presumed  to  introduce  “  the  wife  of  a  member  not  very 
particular  in  her  conduct”  who  would  to-day  be  received  without 
question, simply  on  account  of  her  official  position. 

Even  in  those  early  days,  however,  the  nimbus  of  the  good  old 
times  was  gathering  around  the  democratic  head  of  Jackson, 
“when,”  it  was  said,  “  the  mind  shone  forth  in  its  pure  unstudied 
richness.”  The  contrast  was  drawn  sharply  between  those  happy 
times  and  “the  court  of  the  younger  Adams,  the  gay  drawing-rooms 
of  the  prince  of  diplomatists.”  But  when  Mrs.  Adams’  reign  had 
become  in  its  turn  the  good  old  times,  it  was  spoken  of  as  “an  en¬ 
chanting,  elegant,  and  intellectual  regime.  The  fashionable  circle 
she  drew  around  her  was  far  superior  to  that  which  has  appeared  at 
any  period  since.”  One  of  the  most  brilliant  in  this  coterie  was  Mrs. 
Porter,  who  was  decidedly  the  leader  of  all  the  gay  contemporaries 
of  the  day,  although  she  said  she  had  worn  chiefly  for  a  whole  winter 
one  black  silk  dress,  varying  cap  and  collar  to  suit  different  occasions. 

In  Jackson’s  time  one  of  the  signal  instances  of  the  influence  of 
women  was  shown  in  the  Eaton  episode.  Mrs.  Eaton  was  a  fascinat¬ 
ing  woman  whose  reputation  was  unfortunately  tainted.  The  Presi¬ 
dent  believed  in  her  integrity  and  supported  Eaton  in  marrying  her, 
afterwards  appointing  him  to  the  cabinet.  It  was  natural  that  he 
should  be  sensitive  on  such  a  subject  for  he  had  lost  his  dearly  be¬ 
loved  wife  just  before  coming  to  Washington  on  account  of  poisonous 


JVHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


I4I 

slander.  He  did  everything  in  his  power  to  persuade  and  even  to  force 
society  to  receive  Mrs.  Eaton,  but  he  could  not  prevail.  The  ladies 
of  the  cabinet  refused  to  accept  her  and  their  husbands  resigned  in 
consequence.  The  mistress  of  the  White  House  when  told  to  call 
upon  Mrs.  Eaton,  said  bravely:  “  Unele,  I  will  do  anything  on 
earth  for  you  consistent  with  my  dignity  as  a  lady,  but  I  cannot  visit 
anyone  with  Mrs.  Eaton’s  reputation.”  In  consequence  she  was 
remanded  to  Tennessee  with  her  husband  and  did  not  return  for  six 
months.  Then  Jackson  had  recognized  his  failure  and  it  is  some¬ 
what  amusing  to  see  that  he  undertook  nothing  social  thereafter  with¬ 
out  first  consulting  the  leaders  of  society. 

The  throng  pressed  too  strongly  upon  them,  however,  to  maintain 
boundaries  of  etiquette,  at  least  in  the  public  receptions.  A  country 
whose  population  grows  so  rapidly  as  ours,  sends  a  constantly  in¬ 
creasing  number  to  the  capital,  and  the  taste  of  the  people  became 
the  only  restriction.  At  first  this  was  rude  and  untrained.  Men 
with  muddy  boots  stood  on  satin  sofas  and  knocked  down  waiters 
bearing  refreshments  in  their  eagerness  to  get  at  them.  But  Ameri¬ 
cans  learn  quickly  and  before  long  even  the  proprieties  of  an  English 
woman  were  not  shocked,  and  she  wrote  home  after  seeing  a  public 
reception,  “The  democracy  behaves  like  a  lady.” 

With  Van  Buren’s  ascendancy  came  greater  elegance  and  de¬ 
corum.  The  White  House  was  handsomely  re-furnished,  and  his 
daughter-in-law,  a  pretty  Southerner  of  good  education  and  social 
tact,  exercised  a  benign  influence  on  society.  The  people,  however, 
thought  this  regime  far  too  aristocratic,  and  it  was  one  of  the  causes 
of  the  bitterness  infused  into  the  next  campaign  which  offset  the 
“extravagance”  of  the  White  House  by  the  conspicuous  log-cabin 
of  General  Harrison,  who  was  the  first  western  President. 

With  Tyler’s  administration  one  thing  came  to  an  end  that  is 
greatly  to  be  deplored — that  is,  the  immunity  from  press  comments  on 
social  affairs.  Mrs.  Tyler  was  exceedingly  particular  in  checking  any 
such  indiscretion,  and  the  fact  that  the  papers  could  be  restrained 
shows  what  a  headway  this  vulgarizing  force  has  gained  in  our  day, 
when  the  higher  standard  of  taste  has  been  completely  overwhelmed. 

Mrs.  Polk  brought  a  noble  presence  to  the  White  House.  Mrs. 
Maury,  an  English-woman,  said:  “Among  the  queens  that  I  have 


I  42 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


seen,  not  one  could  compare  with  Mrs.  Madison,  Mrs.  Polk  and 
Mrs.  Adams.  They  are  highly  cultivated  and  perfectly  accomplished 
in  the  most  delicate  and  refined  usages  of  distinguished  society.” 
Mrs.  Polk  was  equally  well  versed  in  the  interests  of  her  husband  and 
her  country,  and  was  the  only  President’s  wife  who  was  also  his  pri¬ 
vate  secretary.  She  was  emphatically  the  wife  of  a  President  even 
during  the  long  years  that  she  outlived  him  in  her  quiet  retirement, 
where  any  distinguished  visitors  to  Nashville  called  upon  her  as  still 
a  semi-public  character,  and  were  received  with  the  dignity  and  affa¬ 
bility  that  made  her  so  highly  esteemed  during  her  term  in  the 
White  House.  But  society  had  now  reached  a  stage  where  it  did 
not  depend  for  support  wholly  upon  political  officials.  The  army 
and  navy,  and  the  diplomatic  corps  gave  it  characteristics  of  their 
own,  which,  while  official,  were  not  partisan,  and  lent  the  polish 
of  attrition  with  the  world  to  the  cruder  elements.  These  bodies 
were  all  disciplined  in  etiquette,  which  is  to  society  what  grammar  is 
to  language,  and  did  much  towards  evolving  the  art  of  society  as  an 
end  in  itself.  The  question  of  precedence  between  the  British  and 
French  ministers  caused  certain  rules  to  be  adopted  by  even  so 
democratic  a  person  as  Jefferson,  and  this  beneficial  influence,  bring¬ 
ing  forms  out  of  the  void,  was  exerted  with  a  steady  pressure  from  the 
beginning  of  the  century. 

Traditions  of  these  steps  in  our  progress  towards  social  coherency 
remain  with  the  residents,  who  are  mostly  descendants  of  those  whom 
official  duty  or  business  originally  brought  to  the  capital.  They  are 
reputed  to  be  exclusive,  but  as  a  rule,  are  not  so  intentionally.  They 
are  courteous  to  those  who  are  brought  near  them  by  the  fluctuations 
of  political  life,  but  the  soil  of  opportunity  is  shallow  and  the  roots 
of  social  affiliations  have  little  room  for  expansion  in  four  years. 
Moreover,  the  increasing  multitude  of  people  that  come  to  Washing¬ 
ton  has  conduced  to  the  falling  apart  of  officials  and  residents.  The 
officials  have  all  they  can  do  to  entertain  those  to  whom  they  are 
under  obligations,  whereas  formerly  residents  were  in  request.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  latter  find  congenial  company  in  established 
families  without  the  sense  of  impending  separation,  but  if  an  official 
is  met  and  liked  by  a  resident  he  is  cordially  welcomed,  for  neither 
politics  nor  sectarianism  are  here  dividing  lines.  Persons  mingle 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


143 


without  such  thought  of  difference,  seeking  their  social  affinities  with 
something  of  the  freedom  of  chemical  atoms. 

This  is  especially  true  since  the  war.  Buchanan  was  the  last  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  antebellum  days  and  under  his  auspices  southern  supremacy 
made  a  brilliant  social  exit.  Never  was  the  White  House  more  digni¬ 
fied  or  elegant.  He  was  most  fortunate  in  having  his  beautiful  niece, 
Miss  Lane,  to  do  its  honors  for  him.  She  had  gained  a  rare  popu¬ 
larity  abroad  when  her  uncle  was  minister  to  England,  the  students 
of  Oxford  rising  in  a  body  to  cheer  her  when  she  went  to  see  degrees 
conferred  upon  Tennyson  and  Buchanan.  It  was  while  she  was 
mistress  of  the  White  House  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  visited  there, 
and  the  President’s  and  Miss  Lane’s  courteous  reception  of  him, 
combined  with  the  demonstration  in  the  Northern  States,  “  in  strange 
contrast  with  his  inhospitable  treatment  in  Virginia,”  made  a  deep 
impression  on  the  Queen  and  the  Prince  Consort  and  may  have  had 
some  influence  on  their  action  in  remaining  friends  of  the  Union  dur¬ 
ing  the  rebellion. 

The  country  was  already  trembling  on  the  brink  of  a  dreadful  war 
but  society  had  an  almost  feverish  gaiety.  Politics  were  too  serious 
to  be  mentioned,  yet  they  tacitly  divided  social  life  into  factions.  Mrs. 
Adams  of  Boston  was  a  leader  accorded  the  ‘  ‘  rare  distinction  ’  ’  of 
being  acknowledged  by  both  sides,  and  Bailey’s  house  provided  ‘‘the 
nearest  approach  to  a  salon  that  Washington  has  ever  seen,”  while 
Mrs.  Slidell’s  influence  in  her  set  was  such  that  whatever  dictum 
she  cared  to  enunciate  about  fashions  was  instantly  followed.  But  as 
the  years  sped  away  so  did  many  of  the  southerners.  Mrs.  Critten¬ 
den,  a  woman  of  great  social  influence  who  was  perfectly  familiar  with 
all  the  issues  of  the  day  and  had  her  own  convictions  but  never  ad¬ 
vocated  them  as  a  partisan,  expressed  perhaps  woman’s  best  attitude 
at  such  a  time  in  a  letter  to  her  daughter:  “  Our  Southern  friends 
have  made  a  great  mistake;  I  long  to  welcome  them  back.”  But  it 
was  many  years  before  this  could  be  done  and  in  the  meantime  depths 
of  anguish  had  been  struggled  through  that  alienated  one  section 
from  another  to  a  degree  that  makes  one  marvel  at  the  apparent 
reconciliation. 

Lincoln’s  inauguration  ball  was  called  the  Union  ball,  but  the  bond 
of  union  was  already  strained  to  the  utmost  tenuity  and  during  the 


144 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


next  four  years  there  was  too  much  grim  work  going  forward  to 
allow  of  social  life.  Nevertheless  it  was  during  these  hard,  dark, 
anguished  years  that  Washington  became  truly  the  capital  of  the 
nation.  Baptized  by  its  great  namesake  in  thanksgiving  and  hope, 
it  was  confirmed  in  blood  and  tears,  and  when  the  pall  of  war  was 
lifted,  the  city  was  no  longer  southern  nor  was  it  northern.  Its 
minority  under  guardianship  of  this  or  that  section  had  passed;  it 
assumed  its  rightful  position  as  the  country’s  head  and  drew  to  it 
more  and  more  the  best  of  every  portion  of  the  land.  The  improve¬ 
ments  made  in  consonance  with  its  new  dignity  were  worked  out  on 
the  original  plans  of  its  and  the  nation’s  founder  and  it  seemed  like  a 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  so  different  from  the  miry,  dusty,  un¬ 
kempt  village  of  earlier  times  became  the  Washington  that  now  ranks 
as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  capitals  in  the  world. 

The  opportunities  for  social  beauty  were  as  great  as  its  material 
attractions,  but  at  first  the  reaction  from  the  long  strain  of  the  war  set 
in  with  a  flood  tide  and  almost  obliterated  the  old  landmarks  of  taste 
and  decorum.  The  presence  of  many  newly  rich  families  eager  to 
display  their  wealth,  the  thirst  for  amusement  and  the  ambition  of 
those  who  had  ends  to  gain  in  satisfying  it,  made  a  mad  whirl  of 
festivity.  At  some  of  the  more  extravagant  entertainments  the  guests 
remained  until  morning  partaking  of  a  sumptuous  breakfast  before 
they  separated,  the  men  to  attend  to  business  and  the  women  to 
appear  at  morning  receptions  in  the  same  costumes  they  had  worn  at 
the  ball.  Extravagance  and  corruption  went  hand  in  hand,  even 
cabinet  ministers  not  being  above  serious  suspicion  and  their  wives 
still  more  attainted.  Mrs.  Fish  in  the  midst  of  this  whirlpool  kept  a 
steady  foot  and  clear  head  and  in  her  combined  kindliness  and  ele¬ 
gance  was  the  rallying  point  for  the  better  element  in  official  circles. 

In  Mrs.  Hayes  came  a  woman  to  the  White  House  who  is  spoken 
of  as  marking  the  third  epoch  among  those  who  have  inhabited  it, 
the  first  being  trained  by  the  Revolution  and  the  second  of  only 
domestic  and  social  ambition.  She  was  a  graduate  of  the  first  col¬ 
lege  for  women  in  America  and  was  a  person  of  strong  convictions 
and  calm  courage.  The  serene  and  dignified  method  of  life  that  had 
been  practiced  by  the  earlier  administrations  was  now  restored  with 
a  new  grace  and  intelligence.  Her  face  was  set  firmly  against  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WO  MAH. 


H5 


dissolute,  but  the  humble  received  her  sweetest  courtesy.  The 
leadership  of  the  official  aristocracy  whose  members  change  too  often 
to  be  a  danger,  is  potent  over  the  mass  and  in  the  kind  of  people 
attracted  to  the  capital  from  other  cities.  Mrs.  Hayes  in  this  is  said 
to  have  exercised  a  greater  influence  than  any  lady  of  the  White 
House  since  Mrs.  Madison.  The  persons  one  met  there  and  largely 
elsewhere  were  no  longer  shoddy  magnates  whose  sole  attractions 
were  terrapin  and  champagne,  but  cultivated  men  and  women  who 
could  converse  sensibly  on  the  topics  of  the  day.  She  was  severely 
criticised  for  excluding  wine  from  her  state  dinners,  but  even  those 
who  disapproved  had  to  admit  that  the  conditions  were  such  as  to 
make  a  sharp  lesson  salutary.  The  esteem  in  which  she  was  held 
by  the  women  of  the  country  was  shown  in  their  presenting  her 
portrait  to  the  nation  “in  gratitude  for  worthy  representation,’’  the 
first  instance  of  the  kind  in  the  history  of  any  nation. 

With  the  “  gentleman-President,”  Arthur,  came  his  sister,  Mrs. 
McElroy,  a  lady  of  quiet  elegance  and  admirable  tact,  for  whatever 
she  did  or  left  undone  was  sure  to  be  in  the  best  taste,  and  her  ex¬ 
ample  quietly  enforced  the  general  social  usages  Mrs.  Hayes  had 
revived,  though  wine  was  no  longer  excluded  from  the  White  House. 

Grover  Cleveland’s  marriage  aroused  general  interest,  and  never 
did  the  press  take  such  outrageous  license,  but  the  President’s  bride 
entered  happily  upon  a  gay  era.  Her  youth  and  the  interest  attach¬ 
ing  to  her  new  position  made  her  uncommonly  popular,  and  during 
her  next  period  of  supremacy  she  will  be  a  significant  social  leader. 
In  Cleveland’s  first  term  there  was  a  recurrence  by  some  to  the  ex¬ 
travagance  of  Grant’s  time,  unlimited  funds  being  spent  in  entertain¬ 
ing  whoever  cared  to  come,  and  such  indiscriminate  hospitality  does 
not  attract  the  best.  Unfortunately  the  trend  is  towards  this  prodi¬ 
gality,  but  there  is  another  side  to  the  shield — the  shield  that  protects 
our  institutions,  for  with  extravagance  comes  the  inevitable  tendency 
to  corruption.  Some  there  are  who  entertain  continually,  and  whose 
company  is  looked  upon  as  an  honor  by  the  highest  who  yet  retain  a 
simple  delicacy  that  sets  a  fair  example  to  those  who  would  be  hos¬ 
pitable  and  yet  not  exceed  their  means. 

Mrs.  Harrison’s  regime  was  not  one  of  brilliancy,  but  of  unusual 
sociability.  She  entertained  more  persons  informally  as  well  as  on 
state  occasions,  than  any  other  President’s  wife,  and  accepted  invita- 


146 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


tions  with  the  same  pleasure  she  had  shown  as  wife  of  a  senator. 
She  was  the  President  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  and  at¬ 
tended  its  meetings,  but  her  example  will  hardly  be  followed,  for  the 
accumulation  of  so  many  undertakings  broke  down  her  health,  and 
she  died  on  the  eve  of  election.  Her  unselfish  thoughtfulness  was 
evidenced  in  many  ways,  but  in  none  more  than  when  she  was  brought 
in  almost  a  dying  condition  from  Loon  Lake  and  within  half  an  hour 
of  her  arrival  directed  that  the  White  House  should  be  opened  to 
those  attracted  to  Washington  by  the  Grand  Army  encampment. 
Five  thousand  went  through  the  public  rooms  in  one  hour,  and  this 
steady  tramp  was  kept  up  day  after  day,  yet  nothing  was  injured 
save  the  matting,  showing  a  wonderful  improvement  of  manners  since 
the  war  times. 

Among  the  notable  leaders  during  the  Harrison  administration  was 
Mrs.  Morton.  As  wife  of  the  Vice-President  she  made  a  place  for 
herself  that  had  so  long  been  vacant  it  almost  needed  re-creation. 
Of  distinguished  bearing  and  much  social  experience  in  New  York 
and  France,  she  established  her  position  with  ease  and  elegance,  and 
was  promptly  recognized  as  a  social  chief. 

An  innovation  was  made  by  Mrs.  Noble,  who  gave  a  tea  in  honor 
of  some  of  the  prominent  suffrage  women,  the  first  time  they  had 
been  tendered  such  social  recognition.  Miss  Anthony  looked  over 
the  rooms  crowded  with  members  of  the  cabinet,  diplomats,  offi¬ 
cers  of  the  army  and  navy  and  others,  and  proudly  said:  “Such 
a  gathering  would  not  have  been  possible  thirty  years  ago,  even 
if  the  invitation  had  come,  as  in  this  instance,  from  the  wife  of  a 
cabinet  minister.” 

The  general  tone  of  society  has  certainly  improved.  There  are 
some  things  in  which  we  have  retrograded,  but  much  that  was  vicious 
has  disappeared,  and  much  that  is  good  has  replaced  it.  This  is  due 
chiefly  to  the  higher  level  of  integrity,  sobriety  and  taste  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  as  a  whole,  but  the  leaders  of  society  have  their  share  in  the 
upward  movement.  To  elevate  the  standard  of  taste  is  no  small  part 
of  patriotic  duty,  and  one  that  women  have  especially  in  charge.  To 
be  patriots,  not  partisans;  to  unite,  not  sever:  to  forward  principles 
by  making  the  best  attractive,  and  to  reach  the  point  of  repose  where 
good  manners  in  all  things  become  spontaneous,  have  been  and  will 
be  the  aims  of  those  most  successful  as  leaders. 


Mrs.  Frank  Leslie. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE  SOUTHERN  WOMAN. —  PAST  AND 
PRESENT. 

BY  MRS.  FRANK  LESLIE.* 

THERE  is  no  class  of  woman  as  noteworthy  in  a  study  of 
American  women  as  the  woman  of  the  South;  no  class  which 
has  passed  through  stranger  vicissitudes  or  developed  more  startling 
changes  of  character. 

We  all  know  what  the  Southern  woman  was  considered  during  the 
half  century  “before  the  war,’’  a  date  which  has  become  of  fatal 
significance  in  our  land.  I  mean  of  course  the  woman  of  the  upper 
classes,  the  wife  and  daughter  of  the  wealthy  planter  or  the  city 
magnate  of  those  days. 

A  petted,  sheltered  darling  protected  by  the  chivalrous  care  of 
men;  who  whatever  their  faults,  were  romantically  tender  and  de¬ 
voted  to  womankind  from  all  that  was  hard,  or  coarse,  or  likely  to 
offend  her  delicacy,  this  Southern  woman  passed  from  her  cradle  to 
her  grave  upon  velvet,  never  touching  the  common  earth,  or  soiling 
her  tiny  feet  with  the  dust  of  common  ways.  True  she  was  a  pains¬ 
taking  and  faithful  housekeeper,  carrying  the  keys  of  her  store-room 
at  her  girdle  and  knowing  exactly  what  provision  was  consumed  not 
only  in  the  house,  but  in  the  quarters.  Every  morning  of  her  life 
attended  by  one  or  two  trusted  woman  servants  she  weighed  and 
measured,  and  counted  out  these  supplies,  summoned  the  cook  to 
receive  the  most  minute  orders  for  the  day,  interviewed  the  serving 
women,  the  nurses,  perhaps  the  gardener  and  other  domestics. 
Finally  she  visited  the  sick  servants  in  their  own  quarters,  prescribed 
simple  remedies,  and  what  is  more,  served  them  out  from  her  liberal 

*  Editor  and  Publisher.  Author  of  “  From  Gotham  to  the  Golden  Gate,”  “  Itza,”  etc. 


148 


THE  NA  TIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


medicine  chest.  Did  Chloe  wish  to  marry  Caesar  and  have  a  “real 
white  wedding’’  with  cake  and  bridal  veil?  She  seized  a  favorable 
moment  to  confide  the  ambition  to  “  Misses,”  who  generally  entered 
into  the  little  romance  with  interest,  and  arranged  the  details  with 
generous  kindness. 

Was  old  Aunt  Dinah  in  distress  at  hearing  of  the  death  of  Pete  or 
Sambo  or  Cuff  she  went  to  “  Misses”  to  be  comforted  and  receive 
perhaps  a  glass  of  wine,  or  hear  a  few  verses  out  of  the  Good  Book 
as  the  mistress  judged  most  consistent  with  her  tastes.  In  fact  the 
duties  of  a  Southern  planter’s  wife  in  the  olden  time  were  quite  as 
onerous  and  fatiguing  as  those  of  the  matron  of  an  institution  who 
draws  a  good  salary  and  feels  that  she  is  a  monument  of  afflicted  and 
meritorious  womanhood. 

But  all  these  duties  were  performed  not  as  laborious  tasks,  but  as 
an  essential  part  of  a  position  she  was  proud  and  glad  to  fill.  She 
was  the  queen  of  her  house  and  of  her  estate,  the  mistress  almost  of 
life  and  death  to  hundreds  of  subjects,  and  the  honored  and  tenderly 
cared  for  wife  and  mother  of  her  own  family.  Under  such  nurture 
our  Southern  woman  developed  a  peculiar  character,  at  once  auto¬ 
cratic  and  clinging;  her  tender  little  hands  never  touched  anything 
harder  than  the  keys  at  her  girdle,  her  dreamy  eyes  seemed  ever 
looking  beyond  the  prosaic  objects  around  her  into  some  rose-strewn,, 
magnolia-scented  paradise  of  her  own,  her  smile  was  soft  and  slow, 
and  sphynx-like  as  'hat  of  Monna  Liza,  who  to  me  always  seemed  a 
Southern  woman. 

Not  generally  of  the  most  brilliant  intellect  or  attainments  our 
Southern  wife  and  daughter  received  the  dicta  of  the  men  belonging 
to  her  as  law  and  gospel,  it  was  their  place  to  know  the  affairs  of  the 
world  and  they  did.  They  fulminated  in  the  eager  Southern  fashion 
this  or  that  decree  and  she  listened  with  that  bewildering  smile  and 
softly  answered  in  her  low'  trainante  voice  with  words  not  of  any  pro¬ 
found  meaning  perhaps  but  full  of  sweet  sympathy  and  confidence. 

When  war  times  came,  this  loving  docility  of  nature  made  of  the 
Southern  woman  a  very  warm  and  passionate  partisan.  She 
believed  all  that  she  was  told  and  when  she  understood  that  the 
home  and  the  life  which  w'ere  the  orbit  of  her  existence  were  to  be 
broken  up,  the  institutions  which  to  her  were  God-given  to  be 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


149 


destroyed,  and  those  conditions  which  her  husband  and  father  swore 
were  their  ‘  ‘  Rights  ’  ’  were  to  be  swept  away,  she  became  the  most 
devoted  and  positive  of  champions.  The  abstract  merits  of  the  case 
did  not  enter  into  her  philosophy  in  any  manner;  if  some  fanatic 
tried  to  set  them  before  her  she  waved  them  contemptuously  aside; 
the  concrete  fact  that  the  man  she  loved,  or  the  sons  she  doted  upon, 
or  the  brother  or  the  lover  of  her  heart  was  exposed  to  peril,  suffer¬ 
ing,  and  very  possible  death  was  enough  for  her;  but  when  to  this 
casus  belli  was  added  the  statement  that  the  “  Yapkees  were  coming 
to  steal  our  servants  ”  and  to  seize  upon  our  estates,  she  became — 
this  soft,  tender,  little  magnolia  blossom — she  became  a  Joan  of  Arc, 
a  Charlotte  Corday,  a  Boadicea,  a  Medea. 

Those  tender  fingers  of  hers  filled  cartridges,  cast  bullets,  stitched 
ammunition  belts  and  warlike  garments,  made  banners  and  embroid¬ 
ered  terrific  mottoes;  performed  in  fact  all  that  a  woman’s  hands 
could  do  of  the  terrible  preparations  for  war,  while  the  fertile  fancy 
and  irresponsible  impulses  native  to  her  class  suggested  dangers 
that  never  came  and  reprisals  sometimes  preceding  the  provocation. 

As  for  the  trials  of  body  and  mind,  the  heroic  struggles  for  bare 
existence,  the  death-in-life  of  the  Southern  woman  through  the  war, 
these  are  things  we  will  not  dilate  upon;  they  are  of  those  painful 
records  of  individual  suffering  that  the  world  agrees  to  bury,  that 
from  their  grave  may  spring  the  growth  of  universal  benefit.  The 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church,  and  the  tears  of  the 
broken  heart  water  the  trees  of  a  nation’s  welfare. 

And  now  after  the  lapse  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  that  gracious 
growth  has  reached  an  appreciable  size  and  beauty;  through  the 
fearful  ordeal  of  suffering  unknown  to  the  casual  observer  or  reader, 
the  Southern  woman  has  emerged  into  the  nobler  conditions  of  her 
present  existence.  The  softness  and  ease  of  her  former  life,  its 
assured  protection  and  the  tender  deference  that  surrounded  it  were 
perhaps  a  trifle  enervating  to  character;  the  affections  flourished  at 
the  expense  of  the  intellect;  the  delight  of  being  was  more  present 
than  the  necessity  of  doing;  the  whole  nature  ran  to  vine  secure  of 
always  finding  a  strong  support  upon  which  to  cling  and  beautify. 

But  with  home  and  friends  and  wealth  swept  away  by  one  tre¬ 
mendous  cataclysm,  the  lovely  clinging  creature  was  left  either  to 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


150 

trail  helplessly  upon  the  ground  and  perish  there,  or  to  develop  new 
fibre,  new  roots,  new  powers  of  self  support;  and  the  heroic  treat¬ 
ment  has  borne  its  fruit,  the  terrible  struggle  has  given  birth  to  the 
child  of  promise;  perhaps  it  is  but  a  survival  of  the  fittest;  perhaps 
more  have  perished  in  the  ordeal  than  we  care  to  count,  but  it  is 
past,  and  we  look  about  us  with  pride  at  some  of  its  obvious  results; 
the  fittest  are  indeed  “very  fit’’  as  the  Englishman  has  it,  and  the 
Southern  vine  has  developed  into  the  sturdy  and  useful  growth  in 
whose  branches  the  fowls  of  the  air  may  securely  rest. 

Some  of  the  most  prominent  women  in  literature — novelists,  poets, 
journalists  of  every  grade,  are  Southern  women;  many  of  the  ac¬ 
countants,  amanuenses  and  other  assistants  in  offices  and  counting- 
rooms  are  Southerners.  Many  of  the  women  who  enter  into  commerce 
or  who  make  homes  for  those  happy  inmates  who  find  a  place 
beneath  their  roofs  and  at  their  generous  boards  are  Southerners. 
You  find  them,  in  fact,  wherever  you  find  women  at  work  not  too 
heavy  for  delicately-framed  and  tenderly-bred  women.  They  cannot 
become  scrubbers  or  daughters  of  the  plough,  although  I  have  known 
some  who  undertook  the  finer  parts  of  laundry  work,  such  as  the  get¬ 
ting  up  of  laces  and  lawns;  yes,  and  did  it  beautifully,  too — as  well  or 
better  than  their  slaves  used  to  do  it  for  them,  but  these  were  excep¬ 
tions  to  the  rule,  for  in  a  general  way  the  Southern  woman  cannot 
use  her  hands  to  any  great  effect  except  in  holding  a  pen  or  pencil 
or  a  needle,  and  her  taste  and  refinement  are  among  the  best  items  of 
her  stock  in  trade.  It  is  the  old  story  of  the  Arab  steed  of  pure 
breed  but  light  frame,  who  out-stays  the  big-boned  Norman  war- 
horse,  the  scimitar  which  cleaves  its  way  where  the  battle-ax  fails, 
the  perfumed  oil  that  gently  Creeps  through  where  vinegar  and  caustic 
do  not  penetrate. 

Let  us  admire  her,  for  what  she  was,  and  what  she  is,  and  what  she 
is  not  nor  ever  will  be;  let  us  admire  and  respect  and  love  her — this 
dainty  darling  of  the  South,  who  has  proven  herself  both  able  and 
willing  to  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  woman  workers  of  the 
world,  and  to  make  for  herself  a  high  place  in  the  new  world  into 
which  she  has  been  forced. 

All  praise  and  honor  to  her,  say  I,  and  all  the  cordial  and  loving 
help  that  any  of  us  can  give  to  her! 


. 


- 


Mrs.  Annie  Jenness  Miller. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


PHYSICAL  CULTURE  OF  AMERICAN  WOMEN. 

BY  ANNIE  JENNESS  MILLER.* 

PHYSICAL  development  has  passed  the  fad  and  experimental 
stages,  and  apprehension  lest  women  should  do  injury  to 
muscles  which  were  formally  regarded  as  too  delicate  for  active  and 
systematic  exercise  has  disappeared.  It  has  been  conclusively  proven 
that  women  may  take  active  gymnastics  not  only  with  safety,  but 
with  great  bodily  gain.  Indeed  it  is  now  very  generally  conceded 
that  failure  to  take  such  exercise  must  result  in  premature  breaking 
down  under  our  nervous,  high-pressure  system  of  living;  corrective 
exercises  being  necessary  to  establish  a  law  of  equilibrium  between 
nerves  and  muscles,  between  the  body  and  brain. 

The  need  for  physical  exercise  having  been  established,  the  only 
danger  to  be  apprehended  is  from  taking  these  exercises  ignorantly. 
I  have  everywhere  in  my  travels  through  the  country  met  with  women 
who  complain  that  physical  culture  has  done  them  more  injury  than 
good,  and  investigation  has  proven  in  every  instance  that  exercises 
were  taken  without  a  knowledge  of  anatomy,  physiology,  or  the 
true  science  of  balance  between  movements  that  supply  force  to  the 
body  and  energy  that  wastes.  When  asked  if  I  indorse  one  or  an¬ 
other  system  of  exercises,  I  have  often  been  conscious  of  antago¬ 
nism,  simply  because  I  could  not  conscientiously  recommend 
mechanical  gymnastics,  knowing  the  danger  that  might  come  to 
certain  organizations  through  such  practice  when  not  applied  to 
individual  needs. 

Physical  development  in  any  comprehensive  sense  must  aim  at  the 
highest  conditions  of  health,  grace  and  beauty.  The  first  object  is  to 


♦Author  of  “  Physical  Beauty,”  "  Mother  and  Babe,”  etc. 


152 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


develop  bodily  power,  and  great  care  needs  to  be  taken  to  serve  this 
end  rather  than  lead  to  physical  exhaustion,  especially  with  women, 
and  this  is  the  reason  why  I  favor  physical  exercise  for  women  only 
when  based  on  intellectual  understanding  and  application  of  the  laws 
of  physiology. 

It  was  inevitable  in  reviving  interest  in  physical  development, 
which  had  been  dormant  for  so  long  a  time,  that  more  or  less  charla¬ 
tanism  should  creep  into  the  initial  stages;  but  the  time  has  come 
when  women  should  not  only  understand  why  they  need  to  take 
physical  exercise,  but  how  to  take  such  exercise  in  order  to  educate 
all  muscles  harmoniously  for  unity  of  parts. 

In  a  comprehensive  sense  physical  development  means  to  woman 
harmonious  action  of  all  organs  of  the  body,  so  that  there  may  be  no 
undue  friction,  and  unnecessary  waste;  in  other  words  the  develop¬ 
ment  and  preservation  of  her  bodily  powers.  Women  are  at  thirty 
older  than  they  will  be  at  fifty  when  the  true  science  of  exercise  is 
understood;  but  in  the  mean  time  the  object  to  be  attained  is  respect 
for  the  science  of  accurate  movement  for  definite  results.  It  is  not 
enough  that  people  admit  the  necessity  for  exercise,  we  need  to  study 
the  underlying  principles  and  learn  respect  for  accurate  educational 
movements  as  based  upon  physiological  law. 

My  own  observation  leads  me  to  believe  that  physical  culture  has 
reached  a  dangerous  stage,  the  stage  where  enthusiasm  for  exercise 
per  se  may  easily  lead  to  error  in  the  manner  of  practice,  and  I 
should  not  consider  it  any  loss  to  the  general  cause  were  all  practice 
known  as  this,  that,  or  the  other  system  to  be  suspended  pending 
the  thorough  study  of  anatomy,  physiology  and  the  needs  of  the 
human  body  as  required  by  the  laws  of  human  economy.  No  one 
ccJuld  be  more  enthusiastic  than  I  over  the  general  advantage  to  be 
gained  through  physical  development  for  women;  but  I  do  not  be¬ 
lieve  that  we  can  afford  to  blunder  along  ignorantly  and  I,  therefore, 
hold  that  the  next  step  in  the  physical  education  of  the  race  will  be 
not  the  study  of  systems  and  methods,  but  of  anatomical  and  physio¬ 
logical  laws.  At  the  present  moment  petty  jealousies  regarding  the 
possible  superiority  of  this  or  that  form  of  exercise  known  as  Del- 
sarte,  Swedish,  &c.,  are  interfering  with  what  is  much  more  import¬ 
ant,  the  study  of  movements  without  regard  to  individual  leaders; 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


153 


but  merely  in  relation  to  the  laws  of  the  body.  Every  system  offers 
something  good  and  useful;  but  physical  science  demands  all  knowl¬ 
edge,  not  the  knowledge  of  this  or  that  persons  ideas,  merely. 

My  conclusions  are  these,  that  the  time  has  come  when  women 
need  to  study  physical  development  as  an  ideal  without  limitation, 
according  to  the  laws  of  their  own  being.  Each  must  understand 
and  interpret  these  laws  through  knowledge  of  the  vital  organism. 
American  women  need  the  study  of  physical  development  because 
the  higher  evolution  of  the  race  depends  upon  them,  because  better 
human  beings,  better  social  conditions,  better  morals  and  wider 
humanities  can  only  be  hoped  for  as  women  interpret  and  live  up  to 
higher  physical  ideals. 

Physical  development  in  the  far  reaching  sense  involves  health, 
unity,  self-command,  grace  and  beauty  in  logical  and  progressive 
order — the  study  is  therefore  a  profound  and  accurate  science. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  AMERICAN  GIRL.— PAST  AND  PRESENT. 


EDITORIAL. 


MONG  the  records  of  the  past,  the  American  girl  stands  out 


f\  upon  the  page  of  history,  both  as  the  brave  and  winsome 
maiden  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  quaint,  picturesque,  prim, 
Puritan  Prudence  of  Colonial  times. 

What  a  fascinating  picture  the  demure  Prudence  or  Patience  was 
in  her  simple  gown  and  modest  kerchief,  laid  in  white  folds  about 
her  girlish  form,  her  cap  resting,  in  spite  of  studied  plainness,  with 
coquettish  grace  upon  her  curls,  her  housewifely  apron  of  ample 
proportions  reaching  to  her  delicate  ankles  as  she  sat  at  the  homely 
wheel  spinning,  with  her  small  foot  in  buckled  slipper  and  knitted 
stocking  pressing  the  treadle,  while  her  deft  fingers  manipulated  the 
flax,  wool,  or  cotton  to  be  afterwards  woven  into  the  homespun 
family  garments.  On  August  9,  1775,  the  following  appeal  was 
posted  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia: 

“To  the  spinners  in  this  city,  the  suburbs  and  country: — your 
services  are  now  wanted  to  promote  the  American  manufactory,  at 
the  corner  of  Market  and  Ninth  streets,  where  cotton,  wool,  flax  and 
so  forth,  are  delivered  out.  One  distinguishing  characteristic  of  an 
excellent  woman,  as  given  by  the  wisest  of  men,  is  ‘that  she  seeketh 
wool  and  flax,  and  worketh  diligently  with  her  hands  to  the  spindle, 
and  her  hand  holdeth  the  distaff.’  In  this  time  of  public  distress, 
yon  have  now,  each  of  you,  an  opportunity  not  only  to  help  to  sus¬ 
tain  your  families,  but  likewise  to  cast  your  mite  into  the  treasury  of 
the  public  good.  The  most  feeble  efforts  to  help  to  save  the  State 
from  ruin,  when  it  is  all  you  can  do,  is  as  the  widow’s  mite,  entitled 
to  the  same  reward  as  they  who,  of  their  abundant  abilities,  have 
cast  in  much.’’ 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


155 


So  no  doubt  many  a  girl  of  the  time  became  a  spinner  for  her 
country,  and  many  a  demure  Prudence  proved  her  brave  heart  and 
staunch  patriotism. 

You  all  know  the  story  of  the  two  brave  New  England  sisters, 
who  having  heard  that  the  Red  Coats  were  approaching,  took  a 
drum  and  fife  and  stationed  themselves  behind  a  huge  rock  overlook¬ 
ing  the  road  where  the  enemy  were  to  pass.  So  persistently  did  they 
ply  the  drum-sticks  and  play  the  fife,  that  the  Red  Coats,  supposing 
an  army  of  Blue  Coats  to  be  approaching,  fled  precipitately,  fright¬ 
ened  away  by  two  brave  American  girls. 

There  was  also  courageous  Mary  Gibbes,  a  girl  only  thirteen,  who 
in  1779,  in  the  midst  of  flying  shot  and  shell,  as  the  American  and 
British  were  fighting  for  the  possession  of  St.  John’s  Island,  thirty 
miles  from  Charleston,  fled  along  through  the  woods  at  midnight, 
where  cannon  balls  crashed  and  shot  fell  like  rain  around  her,  back 
to  the  deserted  home  to  rescue  the  baby  boy  left  behind  in  their 
hurried  flight;  clasping  the  infant  to  her  beating  heart  she  retraced 
her  way  through  that  same  dreadful  forest,  where  the  iron  rain  of 
bullets  still  cut  the  midnight  air,  and  brought  the  child  in  safety  to 
her  agonized  parents.  That  little  boy  saved  by  his  heroic  girl 
cousin,  became  afterward  General  Fenwick,  distinguished  in  the  War 
of  1812. 

Another  young  woman  in  New  Jersey,  in  1777,  passing  a  deserted 
house,  beheld  within,  a  drunken  Hessian  soldier,  who  had  straggled 
from  his  company.  There  being  no  men  within  call,  she  returned 
home,  dressed  herself  in  man’s  apparel,  armed  herself  with  an  old 
musket,  and  going  back  took  the  Hessian  prisoner. 

She  stripped  him  of  his  arms,  and  while  leading  him  captive,  she 
met  with  the  patrol  guard  of  a  New  Jersey  regiment,  to  whom  she 
delivered  up  her  charge. 

The  American  girls  of  those  days  were  not  behind  their  patriotic 
mothers.  No  wonder  the  Tories  had  a  tough  time  to  conquer  the 
intrepid  Yankees,  born  of  such  Spartan  mothers  as  the  following  in¬ 
cident  reveals.  A  gentleman  travelling  through  Connecticut  in  1775, 
met  an  old  lady  who  had  just  fitted  out  and  sent  five  sons  and  eleven 
grandsons  to  Boston,  because  she  had  heard  of  the  engagement 
between  the  provincials  and  regulars. 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


^56 

“  Did  you  not  ^yeep  at  parting  with  them  ?  ”  asked  the  gentleman, 
astonished  at  such  patriotism. 

“No,”  replied  the  heroic  mother;  “I  never  parted  with  them 
with  more  pleasure.” 

“  But  suppose  they  had  all  been  killed?  ”  said  the  gentleman. 

The  noble  matron  replied  with  flashing  eyes  and  lofty  poise  of 
head,  and  resolute  tone  of  voice: 

“  I  had  rather  this  had  been  the  case,  than  that  ONE  of  them  had 
come  back  a  coward.” 

American  girls  were  not  behind  such  brave  mothers,  so  far  as  lay 
in  their  power  to  avow  their  patriotic  opinions.  The  Pennsylvania 
Jotimal  in  its  issue  of  July  16,  1777,  contained  this  item: 

“We  hear  that  the  young  ladies  of  Amelia  county,  in  Virginia, 
considering  the  situation  of  their  country  in  particular,  and  that  of 
the  United  States  in  general,  have  entered  into  a  resolution,  not  to 
permit  the  addresses  of  any  person,  be  his  circumstances  and  situa¬ 
tion  in  life  what  they  will,  unless  he  has  served  in  the  American 
armies  long  enough  to  prove  by  his  valor  that  he  is  deserving  of  their 
love.” 

Those  loyal  maids  of  the  Revolution  were  as  charming  in  the  ball¬ 
room  as  they  were  brave  on  the  field,  where  some  of  them,  clad  in 
Continental  uniforms,  fought  by  the  side  of  their  fathers  and  brothers; 
for  the  girl  of  that  day  could  handle  a  musket  as  well  as  a  distaff. 

In  February,  1779,  an  imposing  entertainment  was  given  by 
General  Knox,  and  the  officers  of  the  corps  of  the  artillery,  at 
Pluckemin,  in  the  Jerseys,  to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  the  French 
Alliance.  General  Washington,  and  the  principal  officers  of  the 
army,  Mrs.  Washington,  Mrs.  Greene,  Mrs.  Knox,  and  many  other 
distinguished  guests  were  present. 

The  ball  was  opened  by  General  Washington.  We  have  no  space 
to  describe  that  brilliant  assembly  and  gorgeous  feast,  and  our  sub¬ 
ject  also  relates  only  to  an  incident  concerning  a  young  American 
beauty  of  that  day. 

One  of  the  honored  guests,  an  old  gentleman  of  sixty,  thus  charm¬ 
ingly  describes  the  wit  of  this  brilliant  girl. 

“  As  it  is  too  late  in  the  day  for  me  to  follow  the  windings  of  a 
fiddle,  I  contented  myself  with  the  conversation  of  some  one  or  other 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


157 


of  the  ladies  daring  the  interval  of  dancing.  I  was  particularly 
amused  with  the  lively  sallies  of  a  Miss  .  .  .  Asking  her  if  the  roar¬ 
ing  of  the  British  lion  in  his  late  speech,  did  not  interrupt  the  spirit 
of  the  dance. 

“  ‘  Not  at  all,’  said  she,  ‘it  rather  enlivens;  for  I  have  heard  that 
such  animals  always  increase  their  howlings  when  most  frightened. 
And  do  you  not  think,’  added  she,  ‘you,  who  should  know  more 
than  young  girls,  that  he  has  real  cause  of  apprehension  from  the 
large  armaments  and  honorable  purposes  of  the  Spaniards  ?  ’ 

“‘So,’  said  I,  ‘you  suppose  that  the  King  of  Spain  acts  in 
politics  as  the  ladies  do  in  affairs  of  love;  smile  in  a  man’s  face, 
while  they  are  spreading  out  the  net  which  is  to  entangle  him  for 
life.’ 

“  ‘At  what  season,’  replied  the  fair  with  a  glance  of  ineffable  arch¬ 
ness,  ‘do  men  lose  the  power  of  paying  such  compliments  ?  ’  I  do 
not  know  that  I  have  ever  been  more  pleased  on  any  occasion,” 
continued  the  old  gentleman:  “  There  could  not  have  been  less 
than  sixty  ladies  present.  Through  the  whole  there  was  a  remarkable 
style  of  looks  and  behavior.  Their  charms  were  of  that  kind  which 
give  a  proper  determination  to  the  spirits,  and  permanency  to  the 
affections.  More  than  once  I  imagined  myself  in  a  circle  of  Samnites, 
where  beauty  and  fidelity  were  made  subservient  to  the  interest  of 
the  State,  and  reserved  for  such  citizens  as  had  distinguished  them¬ 
selves  in  battle.” 

In  1776,  in  the  country  dances  published  in  London,  there  was 
one  called,  “  Lord  Howe’s  Jig;  in  which  there  was  cross  over,  change 
hands,  turn  your  partner,  foot  it  on  both  sides  and  other  movements, 
admirably  depictive  of  the  war  in  America.”  But  the  London 
Tories  found  they  would  have  to  “  Heel  and  Toe,”  to  other  Yankee 
dances,  before  America  got  through  her  GRAND  MILITARY 
BALL;  and  the  staunch  American  maidens,  who  did  not  go  to  the 
front,  still  avowed  their  patriotism  with  fearless  voice,  and  flashing 
eyes  in  the  ball  room  as  well  as  in  their  own  circles;  and  the  fair 
maids  of  Charleston,  after  the  capture  of  that  place,  uniformly  re¬ 
fused  to  associate  with  the  British  officers,  or  to  attend  any  of  their 
entertainments;  and  being  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  selling  their 
silver  and  jewelled  buckles,  in  order  to  obtain  the  needed  subsistence; 


158 


THE  NA  TIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


they  proudly  paraded  white  and  black  roses  upon  their  shoes  in 
honor  of  the  French  Alliance. 

As  an  example  of  the  regard  for  truth  evinced  by  the  maidens  of 
the  Revolution,  the  following  incident  of  Nelly  Custis,  the  sister  of 
George  Washington  Parke  Custis,  who  was  adopted  by  Washington 
as  his  son;  may  be  cited.  We  give  the  account  in  the  words  of 
Nellie  Custis: 

‘  ‘  I  was  young  and  romantic  then,  and  fond  of  wandering  alone  by 
moonlight  in  the  woods  of  Mount  Vernon.  Grandmamma  thought 
it  wrong  and  unsafe,  and  scolded  and  coaxed  me  into  a  promise  that 
I  would  not  wander  again  unaccovipanied.  But  I  was  missing  one 
evening  and  was  brought  home  from  the  interdicted  woods  to  the 
drawing-room,  where  the  General  was  walking  up  and  down,  with 
his  hands  behind  him,  as  was  his  wont.  Grandmamma,  seated  in 
her  great  arm-chair,  opened  a  severe  reproof.  I  knew  I  had  done 
wrong,  acknowledged  it,  and  did  not  try  to  excuse  myself.  As  I 
was  leaving  the  room,  I  overheard  the  General  in  a  low  voice  inter¬ 
ceding  for  me: 

‘  My  dear,’  said  he,  ‘  I  would  say  no  more;  perhaps  she  was  not 
alone.’ 

“  Coming  back,  I  went  up  to  the  General  and  said:  ‘Sir,  you 
brought  me  up  to  speak  the  truth,  and  when  I  told  grandmamma  I 
was  alone,  I  hope  you  believed  I  was  alone.  ’ 

*  ‘  The  General  turned  towards  me,  and  made  one  of  his  most 
magnanimous  bows: 

‘  My  child!’  replied  he,  1  I  beg  your  pardon!  ’  ” 

Nor  is  the  fascinating  typical  American  Girl  of  ’93  one  whit  behind 
her  lovely  great-great-great-grandmother,  the  bygone  Girl  of  ’76. 

The  girl  of ’93  embodies  the  best  attributes  of  a  century  of  Ameri¬ 
can  types.  She  has  the  pretty  demureness  of  the  Puritan  maiden, 
the  patriotism  of  the  belle  of  Bunker  Hill,  the  picturesque  attire  of 
the  pride  of  the  New  York  Battery,  when  young  Washington  Irving, 
then  a  law  student,  walked  upon  that  fashionable  boulevard.  She 
has  the  softness  of  the  Florida  flower,  the  deftness  of  the  Yankee  girl, 
the  fearlessness  and  bouyant  strength  of  the  pioneer’s  daughter,  and 
the  imagination  of  the  Red  Rose  of  the  Rockies,  when  Indian  maid¬ 
ens  were  lovely  Minnehahas.  And  withal,  this  girl  of  ’93  has  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


159 


independence  which  is  not  boldness,  the  culture  which  is  not  pedan¬ 
try,  the  attainments  which  are  not  smatterings,  the  self-poise  which 
is  not  vanity,  the  truthfulness  which  is  not  bluntness,  the  breeziness 
which  is  not  brusqueness,  the  beauty  which  is  not  ill-health,  the  mod¬ 
esty  which  is  not  prudery,  the  benevolence  which  is  not  lip-service, 
the  simplicity  which  is  not  inanity,  the  self-respect  which  is  not 
pride,  the  dignity  which  is  not  haughtiness,  the  exclusiveness  which 
is  not  snobbishness,  the  coolness  which  is  not  indifference,  the  cordi¬ 
ality  which  is  not  gushing,  the  faith  which  is  not  credulity,  and  the 
practical  religion  which  is  not  hypocritical  cant. 

The  girl  of  ’93  has  domestic  deftness  which  does  not  necessitate 
her  becoming  a  household  drudge.  She  has  the  sympathy  which  is 
not  officiousness,  the  helpfulness  which  is  not  impertinence,  the  social 
tact  which  is  not  insincerity,  the  frankness  which  is  not  impoliteness, 
the  heartiness  which  is  not  ill-breeding,  the  mental  strength  which  is 
not  masculine,  the  daintiness  which  is  not  selfishness,  the  refinement 
which  is  not  veneering,  the  kindliness  which  is  not  condescending, 
the  love  of  the  beautiful  which  is  not  barbaric,  the  taste  which  is  not 
bizarre. 

The  girl  of  ’93  has  the  neatness  which  is  not  primness,  the  pic¬ 
turesque  negligee  which  is  not  slouchiness,  the  dashing  jauntiness 
which  is  not  loudness,  the  fetching  frown  which  is  not  peevishness, 
the  delightful  audacity  which  is  not  unlady-like,  the  self-reliance 
which  is  not  unfeminine,  the  moral  courage  which  is  not  pugnacious¬ 
ness,  the  devotion  which  is  not  servile,  the  deference  which  is  not 
cringing,  the  unselfishness  which  is  not  the  suicide  of  personal  indi¬ 
viduality.  I  have  made  a  particular  study  of  this  charming  American 
girl  of  ’93,  and  the  typical  girl  whom  I  describe  is  but  the  combi¬ 
nation  of  the  attributes  of  the  best  types  of  modern  American  girls. 
If  you  study  carefully  the  characteristics  of  the  most  efficient, 
broadly- cultured,  refined,  and  Christian  girls  of  your  acquaintance, 
you  will  be  surprised  as  you  analyze  their  characters  to  find  how 
many  of  these  desirable  traits  they  possess  either  in  embryo  or  in 
practice. 

Follow  the  modern  American  girl  from  the  parlor  to  the  kitchen, 
from  the  kindergarten  to  the  ball-room,  from  the  cooking-club  to  the 
lecture  room,  from  the  hospital  to  the  afternoon  tea,  from  the  sick 


i6o 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


room  to  the  art  gallery,  from  the  King’s  Daughters’  circles  to  the  ten¬ 
nis  ground,  from  the  shopping  tour  to  the  library,  from  the  Bible  class 
to  the  reading  club,  from  the  sewing  circle  to  the  swimming  school, 
from  the  Chit-Chat  club  to  the  gymnasium,  and  mark  her  broad 
development,  mental,  moral  and  physical. 

You  will  find  the  girl  of  ’93  as  deft  in  decorating  a  table  as  in  mak¬ 
ing  her  charming  toilet,  as  efficient  in  the  sick  room  as  in  sports;  as 
much  at  home  in  the  library  as  in  the  parlor.  She  talks  with  bril¬ 
liancy,  and  dares  to  express  her  opinions,  which  are  often  well  worth 
hearing,  for  she  has  not  been  limited  to  the  narrow  horizon  of  nursery 
maids  and  governesses  alone,  but  from  childhood  has  breathed  the 
atmosphere  of  cultured  circles,  and  taken  active  part  in  family 
conversations — not  having  been  muzzled  by  the  ancient  fallacy  that 
young  girls  should  only  be  seen,  not  neard. 

Of  course,  by  the  American  girl  of  ’93,  I  do  not  limit  my  subject 
to  the  misses  of  sixteen;  for  sensible  girls  do  not  now  leave  school 
until  they  are  twenty,  and  then  pass  only  from  the  school-room  to 
the  lecture-room,  where  they  remain  as  students  through  life.  And 
modern  American  girls  are  not  imbued  with  the  fallacious  idea  that 
early  marriage  is  the  desideratum  of  woman’s  existence;  marriages 
at  eighteen  are  now  the  exception,  and  not,  as  formerly,  the  rule. 
Our  girls  have  a  distinct  stage  of  young  womanhood,  and  girlhood 
is  not,  as  formerly,  a  fleeting  step  between  childhood  and  matron- 
hood. 

Taken  all  in  all,  this  typical  American  girl  of  ’93,  is  the  daintiest, 
brightest,  most  lovable  bit  of  humanity  of  all  Eve’s  fair  daughters. 
If  woman  continues  to  live  up  to  the  high  mark  of  her  advancing 
possibilities,  the  charming  young  girl  of  2093,  will  prove  far  more 
fascinating  than  even  Mr.  Bellamy’s  Edith  of  future  Boston. 

God  bless  the  American  girl  of  ’93!  She  is  the  living  proof  of  the 
marvellous  advancement  of  woman,  and  the  hopeful  prophecy  of  her 
increasing  possibilities  and  powers. 

Among  the  American  girls  of  whom  mention  should  be  made  in 
connection  with  various  lines  of  philanthropy,  literature,  art,  music, 
education,  and  business,  may  be  cited  the  young  girl  poets,  the 
Goodale  sisters,  whose  “Apple  Blossoms,’’  and  “  Verses  from  Sky 
Farm,’’  brought  to  public  notice  Elaine  and  Dora  Goodale,  who 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


161 


expressed  a  genuine  love  for  nature  in  a  simple  and  artless  fashion. 
That  these  youthful  poetic  spirits  possessed  deeper  attributes  of  mind 
than  a  “nice  ear  for  rhyme  and  rhythm,’’  has  been  proved  by  their 
later  work;  Dora,  having  devoted  herself  to  the  study  of  art,  and 
Elaine  has  become  a  self-sacrificing  espouser  of  the  cause  of  the 
Indian  race. 

The  three  Logan  sisters  also  attained  early  fame.  Gail  Hamilton 
commenced  her  brilliant  literary  career  when  a  young  girl,  and 
among  the  girl  contributors  to  the  “  Lowell  Offering,’’  appeared  the 
name’ of  Lucy  Larcom.  Margaret  Fuller  was  a  hard  student  when 
only  six  years  of  age.  Anna  Dickinson  was  a  famous  figure  upon 
the  lecture  platform  before  she  was  twenty-one,  and  as  Mrs.  Mary  A. 
Livermore  says  of  her:  “  She  was  hailed  as  the  Joan  of  Arc  of  the 
century.’’ 

Miss  Edna  Dean  Proctor,  author  of  the  famous  lyric,  “  Columbia’s 
Banner,”  that  scholarly  and  dramatic  ode,  which  has  so  recently 
been  rendered  by  the  thousands  of  school  children  throughout 
America,  must  also  be  claimed  among  American  girl  writers,  for  in 
her  early  maidenhood,  she  became  a  contributor  to  the  foremost 
literary  publications  and  took  a  place  among  leading  American 
poets. 

Miss  Harriet  F.  Monroe,  of  Chicago,  the  author  of  the  “Dedica¬ 
tory  Ode,”  for  the  World’s  Columbian  Exposition,  may  also  be 
classed  among  illustrious  American  girls,  as  she  is  but  twenty-four 
years  of  age.  This  remarkable  literary  achievement  has  given  her 
a  national  reputation.  Miss  Edith  Thomas,  too,  commenced  to 
weave  her  graceful  and  inspiring  thoughts  into  most  delicate  word 
harmonies,  when  yet  a  girl. 

Among  girl  novelists,  Amelie  Rives  flashed  into  fame  with  a  few 
weird  strokes  from  her  characteristic  pen.  Miss  Minnie  Gilmore, 
daughter  of  the  late  renowned  musician,  Professor  P.  S.  .Gilmore,  is 
another  bright  example  in  the  ranks  of  girl-writers.  Miss  Mer- 
ington  has  achieved  success  in  the  line  of  a  playwright,  and  her 
“Captain  Lettarblair, ”  has  evinced  her  dramatic  ability.  Miss 
Elizabeth  G.  Jordan,  who  at  twenty-one  years  of  age  was  writing  for 
the  Chicago  Tribune ,  and  is  now  connected  with  the  New  York 
World ,  made  a  national  reputation  by  her  “True  Stories  of  the 


162 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


News,”  which  she  gathered  from  events  transpiring  in  the  Metropo¬ 
lis.  The  preparing  of  these  chronicles  took  Miss  Jordan  into  the 
hospitals,  police  stations,  police  courts,  morgue,  and  the  crowded 
east  side  tenements  of  New  York.  By  being  brought  thus  in  con¬ 
tact  with  the  poor  and  suffering,  she  was  the  means  of  rendering 
much  charitable  assistance. 

Among  the  American  girls  whom  the  Marquise  Clara  Lanza  men¬ 
tions  in  her  sketch  on  “  Clever  American  Women,”  are  Miss  Annie 
Bigelow,  daughter  of  the  Honorable  John  Bigelow,  and  Miss  Bessie 
Marbury.  Miss  Bigelo>v  has  contributed  bright  stories  to  Harper  s 
Magazine ,  and  Miss  Marbury  has  written  several  society  come¬ 
diettas.  Mrs.  Anna  Morrison  Reed  of  California  achieved  renown 
as  a  girl-lecturer,  on  temperance,  at  fifteen  years  of  age.  Among 
American  girls  who  have  become  noted  in  musical  lines,  Clara 
Lanza  mentions  Miss  Constance  Schack  and  Miss  Stephens,  daugh¬ 
ter  of  the  late  Mrs.  Anne  S.  Stephens,  the  novelist,  both  of  these 
young  ladies  being  finished  vocalists.  The  Misses  Hewitt  of  New 
York  are  accomplished  violinists,  while  Miss  Drexel  is  a  proficient 
harpist.  Miss  Estelle  Doremus  has  raised  the  banjo  by  her  expert 
handling,  into  a  delightful  instrument.  Miss  Bertha  Thomas,  assist¬ 
ant  organist  of  Grace  Church,  New  York,  has  the  honor  of  being  the 
only  known  lady  chimes-player.  Miss  Jennie  Dutton,  the  well- 
known  choir  soloist,  draws  the  largest  salary  of  any  one  in  her  pro¬ 
fession  in  New  York.  Orchestras  composed  entirely  of  ladies,  most 
of  them  being  young,  are  now  acknowledged  musical  institutions  of 
Boston.  The  Beacon  Orchestral  Club,  of  Boston,  includes  fifty  lady 
members,  and  the  Fadette  Ladies’  Orchestra  of  that  city,  is  com¬ 
posed  of  twenty  picked  players.  There  are  also  two  ladies’  military 
bands  in  Boston.  Miss  Maud  Morgan,  daughter  of  the  well-known 
New  York  organist,  although  she  has  now  passed  into  the  ranks  of 
the  professionals,  achieved  national  renown  as  a  harpist  while  still  a 
young  girl. 

The  names  of  the  American  girls  who  have  become  illustrious  as 
professional  vocalists,  musicians,  and  actresses,  are  numerous  and 
well-known.  Miss  Lily  Hollingshead,  a  grand-daughter  of  James  E. 
Murdoch,  is  an  elocutionist  of  marked  talent.  Her  famous  grand¬ 
father  has  been  her  teacher,  and  she  displays  both  in  dramatic  action, 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN.  163 

and  cultured,  well-trained  voice,  the  finished  instruction  she  has 
received. 

Harriet  Hosmer  was  famous  in  art  at  twenty-five,  and  Vinnie  Ream 
executed  Lincoln’s  statue  at  twenty-four.  Edmonia  Lewis,  whose 
father  was  a  negro,  and  her  mother  a  Chippewa  Indian,  was  a  famous 
sculptress  at  twenty.  Miss  Louise  Lawson,  Miss  Adelaide  Johnson, 
and  Miss  Luella  Varney,  are  three  American  girls  who  have  achieved 
success  in  sculpture.  Miss  Ida  J.  Burgess  has  won  the  distinction  in 
art  of  receiving  the  commission  of  decorating  two  of  the  rooms  in  the 
Illinois  State  building  of  the  Exposition.  Several  other  American 
girls  must  be  mentioned  in  this  connection.  Miss  Enid  Yandell,  of 
Kentucky,  designed  the  pediment  for  the  Woman’s  Building,  and 
her  sculpture  was  the  first  in  place  on  the  ground.  Miss  Yandell  is 
twenty- two  years  of  age.  A  recent  bright  little  book,  ‘  ‘  Three  Girls 
in  a  Flat,”  was  written  by  Miss  Yandell,  Miss  Loughborough,  the 
architect  of  the  Woman’s  Building,  and  Miss  Hayes,  Mrs.  Palmer’s 
secretary.  These  young  ladies  not  only  gained  warm  commenda¬ 
tions  for  the  success  of  their  literary  venture,  but  they  evinced  marked 
business  capacity  by  becoming  their  own  publishers,  and  securing 
$ 1,200  worth  of  advertising  for  the  fly  leaves  of  their  volume;  they 
paid  expenses  of  publication  before  the  book  was  fairly  on  the 
market.  Miss  Rideout,  a  San  Francisco  girl  of  nineteen,  designed 
the  group  for  the  Woman’s  Building.  Miss  Nellie  Mears,  scarcely 
twenty  years  old,  has  the  commission  for  a  heroic  marble  figure  for 
the  Wisconsin  Building.  Miss  Julia  Minor,  of  Madison,  has  also  a 
figure  for  the  same  building.  Miss  Julia  Bracken  has  two  figures  of 
heroic  size  in  the  Illinois  Building.  Miss  Bessie  Potter,  a  young  so- 
ciety  girl  of  Chicago,  made  a  figure  for  the  Illinois  Building  repre¬ 
senting  “Art.”  These  young  ladies  are  ail  enthusiasts  in  their 
chosen  profession,  and  judging  from  their  present  remarkable  work, 
illustrious  careers  in  art  await  them. 

In  business  and  the  trades  the  American  girl  is  taking  foremost 
rank.  Perhaps  the  most  successful  case  of  a  young  business  girl  of 
less  than  twenty-one  years  of  age,  is  the  instance  of  Miss  Birdie  May 
Wilson,  of  Chicago.  Before  she  was  seventeen,  Miss  Wilson  was 
engaged  in  real-estate  business  in  Chicago,  and  was  running  also  a 
large  stock  ranch  of  her  own  near  Santa  Fe.  While  keeping  the  run 


164 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


of  her  Western  business,  she  went  to  New  York,  studied  stenography, 
typewriting,  and  telegraphy,  and  finally  went  to  England  in  the  in¬ 
terest  of  parties  owning  valuable  mining  property  in  California,  and 
negotiated  the  sale  of  these  mines  to  an  English  syndicate,  the  tran¬ 
saction  involving  several  millions  of  dollars.  With  all  this  business 
capacity  and  shrewd  judgment,  Miss  Wilson,  outside  her  office,  ap¬ 
pears  a  simple,  pretty,  refined  young  girl,  whom  one  would  suppose 
to  have  no  thought  beyond  some  social  engagement  or  shopping  tour. 

The  American  type-writer  girls  have  already  become  famous.  The 
fastest  record  for  type-writing  has  been  made  by  Miss  V.  Curry, 
of  Syracuse,  who  can  write  182  perfect  words  in  a  minute.  In  the 
limited  area  between  Worth  Street  and  the  Battery,  in  New  York 
City,  where  there  are  many  large  wholesale  houses,  it  is  stated  that 
15,000  type-writer  girls  are  employed.  A  single  type-writing  ma¬ 
chine  company  finds  employment,  through  its  various  offices,  for 
10,000  women  a  year. 

In  “  Woman’s  Work  in  America,”  published  in  1890  by  Henry 
Holt  &  Co.,  it  is  stated  in  the  chapter  on  ‘‘Women  in  Industry”: 
“  The  New  York  journals  in  1S68  reported  30,000  girls  struggling 
in  that  city  with  starvation  and  cold;  making  shirts  at  sixpence 
each,  and  furnishing  the  thread  themselves.  When  the  sewing  ma¬ 
chines  were  introduced  into  large  establishments,  73,290  women 
were  displaced  by  the  machines,  each  of  which  could  do  the  work 
of  six  girls.”  The  same  article  gives  an  account  of  a  successful 
co-operative  tailoring  establishment  started  in  Chicago,  ‘‘which 
had  its  rise  in  the  lock-out  of  a  few  factory  girls  who  attended  a 
labor  parade  without  permission.  With  the  luck  that  comes  with 
pluck,  they  became  possessed  of  $400  through  soliciting  subscrip¬ 
tions.  With  this  they  went  into  business  and  succeeded.  It  is 
claimed  that  inside  of  nine  months  they  had  done  $36,000  worth 
of  business,  besides  having  the  gratification  of  being  their  own 
employers.  ’  ’ 

Miss  Mahegin,  of  Brooklyn,  is  a  regularly-licensed  woman  pharm¬ 
acist,  and  her  work  at  the  prescription  desk  of  the  drug  store  in  which 
she  is  employed  proves  her  capability. 

The  Chicago  Inter-  Ocean  gives  this  account  of  a  young  girl  who 
became  a  successful  bread-winner.  “  In  central  New  York  a  young 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


165 

woman  has  the  sole  right  to  manufacture  paper  dolls,  to  be  dressed 
in  paper.  Beginning  in  a  small  way,  while  in  her  father’s  house,  she 
has  so  extended  her  business,  that  now  she  employs  thirty  girls  and 
women.” 

A  young  girl,  Elizabeth  More,  with  the  help  of  a  girl  friend,  has 
built  a  cottage  for  herself,  the  girls  not  only  doing  the  ornamental 
work,  but,  without  aid,  they  laid  the  foundations,  performed  all  the 
carpenter’s  work  and  plastered  the  rooms. 

As  an  example  of  great  dexterity  the  case  is  cited,  of  Miss  Cal¬ 
houn,  one  of  the  money  counters  in  the  Treasury  Department 
at  Washington.  Her  record  has  been  eighty-five  thousand  coins 
counted  in  a  single  day,  and  even  with  this  speed,  she  can  detect  a 
counterfeit  instantaneously  by  her  trained  sense  of  touch. 

Miss  Dora  Miller,  of  New  Orleans,  has  invented  and  patented  a 
blackboard  eraser,  and  this  ingenious  teacher  has  been  offered  five 
thousand  dollars  for  her  patent  right. 

Miss  Martha  D.  Bessey,  one  of  the  designers  employed  by  Tiffany, 
has  won  the  prize  for  the  best  design  for  a  badge  to  be  worn  by  the 
Lady  Managers  of  the  Columbian  Exposition.  Miss  Bessey  was 
educated  in  a  New  York  grammar  school,  afterwards  studying  at  the 
Cooper  Institute. 

Miss  Lizzie  Schreiner  has  made  an  unusual  record  for  a  girl  in 
type-setting.  For  five  years  she  has  served  as  foreman  for  the 
Telegraph  of  Pomeroy,  Ohio.  It  is  estimated,  that  in  the  past  ten 
years,  she  has  set  up  6,240  feet  of  type,  column  width,  and  disposed 
of  62,300  sheets  of  manuscript,  of  the  size  that  requires  ten  pages  to 
make  a  foot  of  type. 

In  philanthropic  and  religious  enterprises  the  young  people  of  our 
land  are  taking  the  lead. 

Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge,  of  New  York,  and  Miss  Clara  Sydney 
Potter,  daughter  of  Bishop  Potter,  have  in  their  “  Working  Girls’ 
Societies,”  demonstrated  the  practical  and  far-reaching  philanthro¬ 
pies  within  the  power  of  self-sacrificing  society  girls. 

While  the  college  girls  from  Vassar,  Smith,  Wellesley  and  Bryn 
Mawr,  are  carrying  out  a  valuable  and  beautiful  charity  in  their 
”  College  Settlements.”  Representatives  from  these  colleges  take 
turns  in  living  for  a  few  months  in  these  College  Settlements,  where 


1 66 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


the  young  ladies  teach  the  children  of  the  poor  in  various  branches. 

One  of  the  most  striking  examples  of  the  vast  results  consequent 
upon  the  efforts  of  a  young  American  girl,  is  the  pathetic  and  beauti¬ 
ful  story  of  little  Hattie  May  Wiatt,  which  was  related  in  Harper’s 
Young  People.  “A  few  years  ago  a  child  applied  to  a  pastor  in  one 
of  our  large  cities  for  admission  into  his  Sunday-school.  She  was  told 
that  the  classes  were  so  full  there  was  no  room  for  her,  and  that  the 
church  was  so  small  that  no  more  classes  could  be  organized.  Much 
disappointed,  the  little  girl  began  to  save  her  pennies — her  family 
being  poor — for  the  purpose  of  enlarging  the  church  in  order  that  she 
and  other  children  like  herself  might  be  accommodated.  She  told 
no  one  of  her  sacred  purpose,  however,  so  that  when  the  pastor  of 
this  church  was  called  to  her  bedside  a  few  months  later,  to  comfort 
her  in  her  severe  illness,  he  saw  nothing  unusual  in  this  frail  child  of 
six  and  a  half  years.  The  little  sufferer  died,  and  a  week  later,  there 
were  found  in  her  battered  red  pocket-book,  which  had  been  her 
savings  bank,  fifty-seven  pennies,  and  a  scrap  of  paper  that  told  in 
childish  print  the  story  of  her  ambition,  and  the  purpose  of  her  self- 
denial.  The  story  of  that  little  red  pocket-book  and  its  contents, 
and  of  the  unfaltering  faith  of  its  little  owner,  was  noised  abroad.  It 
touched  the  hearts  of  all  hearers.  Her  inspiration  became  a  prophecy, 
and  men  labored,  and  women  sang,  and  children  saved,  to  aid  in  its 
fulfilment.  These  fifty-seven  pennies  became  the  nucleus  of  a  fund 
that  in  six  years  grew  to  $250,000  and  to-day,  this  heroine’s  picture, 
life-size,  hangs  conspicuously  in  the  hallway  of  a  college  building  at 
which  1,400  students  attend,  and  connected  with  which  there  is  a 
church  capable  of  seating  8,000  and  a  hospital  for  children,  called  the 
‘  Good  Samaritan,’  which  has  accommodated  all  the  girls  and  boys 
who  have  as  yet  asked  to  enter  it.  These  splendid  institutions  are 
located  in  Philadelphia.” 

Truly  America’s  debt  to  little  Hattie  May  Wiatt,  will  accumulate 
with  every  passing  year. 

From  recent  reports  received  from  the  secretary  of  the  United 
Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  I  find  the  following  statistics  of  the 
growth  of  this  marvellous  young  Christian  band:  The  secretary 
writes  that  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  membership  in  these  various 
branches  are  women,  and  as  most  of  these  are  young  girls  or  young 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


167 


matrons,  the  statistics  may  fairly  come  in  place  here.  The  Christian 
Endeavor  bands  number  now  over  twenty-one  thousand  societies, 
with  a  membership  of  1,370,200  individuals,  of  whom  sixty  per  cent, 
are  young  women.  During  the  past  year,  120,000  became  church 
members  from  the  various  bands.  Estimate  the  debt  America  owes 
to  this  vast  army  of  American  girls,  working  with  zealous  hearts  and 
unwearied  hands  in  Christian  labor,  in  the  thirty  Evangelical  denom¬ 
inations  which  they  represent,  having  as  their  only  motto:  “  Personal 
Devotion  to  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ.” 

Well  may  the  founder  and  president  of  this  wonderful  association 
of  young  people,  declare:  “  This  is  no  man’s  society!  This  is  God’s 
movement!”  The  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  gave  during  the  year  ending  April,  1892,  $13,657.06  to 
Home  and  Foreign  Missions.  At  the  Convention  of  the  Christian 
Endeavor  Bands,  in  Minneapolis,  in  1891,  75,000  young  people 
pledged  to  give  two  cents  a  week  to  Foreign  Missions.  Of  the 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  thus  raised,  sixty  per  cent  would  be 
the  gift  of  American  girls,  and  by  these  figures  some  estimate 
can  be  made  of  the  charitable  donations  of  young  women  in  this 
country,  through  this  one  avenue  of  Christian  benevolence. 

Think  also  what  America  owes  to  the  numerous  Circles  of  King’s 
Daughters,  enrolling  in  their  consecrated  tens,  two  hundred  thousand 
self-sacrificing  American  girls,  going  about  doing  good  “In  His 
Name,”  becoming  ministering  angels  of  mercy  in  the  hospitals, 
orphan  asylums,  day  nurseries,  working  girls’  homes,  Sunday 
schools,  and  homes  of  the  poor.  Bearing  the  bright  blossoms  from 
the  Flower  Missions  to  the  sick  and  neglected,  supporting  by  the 
proceeds  of  their  various  entertainments,  prepared  with  untiring 
labors,  country  homes  for  the  sick  children  of  city  poor,  children’s 
beds  in  hospitals,  and  many  other  sweet  charities.  To  the  American 
girls  also  this  country  is  indebted  for  its  many  Young  Women’s 
Christian  Associations,  Young  Women’s  Temperance  Unions, 
Working  Girls’  Clubs  and  similar  societies.  I  have  gathered  the 
following  regarding  Flower  Missions: 

“  The  accounts  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Flower  Missions  in  this 
country  differ,  but  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  immense  amount  of 
good  accomplished  by  this  graceful  charity.  The  New  York  City 


1 68 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Mission  is  the  largest  in  the  United  States  and  has  distributed  as 
many  as  twelve  thousand  bouquets  in  a  single  day. 

“In  addition  to  the  flowers  all  sorts  of  delicacies,  fresh  eggs, 
vegetables  and  milk  are  given  out  through  the  various  city  mission¬ 
aries.  Contributions  are  received  from  all  parts  of  the  adjacent 
country,  as  well  as  from  the  city,  and  the  express  companies  deliver 
all  these  packages  free  of  charge  and  return  such  baskets  as  are 
marked  with  the  owner’s  name  and  address.  The  least  complicated 
form  of  this  work  is  street  distribution,  and  many  persons  who  go 
regularly  into  the  city  carry  flowers  to  give  to  the  children  in  the 
districts  inhabited  by  the  poor.  The  mission  also  distributes  to  the 
sick  in  tenement  houses,  to  the  hospitals,  the  insane  asylums,  the 
prisons,  in  short  wherever  suffering  of  any  sort  exists.  Even  the 
blind  have  fragrant  blossoms  sent  to  them,  a  long-stemmed  rose,  a 
bunch  of  mignonette,  or  some  rose  geraninm  leaves  giving  intense 
pleasure.” 

Many  young  girls  are  also  becoming  trained  nurses,  whose  gentle 
ministrations  in  the  sick-room,  skilled  touch,  patient  watchfulness 
and  unwearied  vigils,  are  as  great  factors  in  the  care  of  the  sick,  as 
are  the  professional  physicians. 

A  unique  organization  composed  entirely  of  invalids,  and  known 
as  the  “Shut-In  Society,”  was  started  by  a  young  girl,  Miss 
Jennie  Casseday.  Miss  Casseday  was  at  the  time  an  invalid,  and 
to  relieve  the  loneliness  of  other  invalids  like  herself,  she  began 
a  correspondence  with  other  sufferers,  which  at  length  resulted  in 
this  beautiful  charity,  which  finds  out  the  sick,  relieves  their  necessi¬ 
ties,  and  cheers  their  lonely  hours  by  many  methods. 

Regarding  the  education  of  American  girls,  in  the  United  States, 
I  have  taken  the  following  statistics  from  the  last  circular  issued  by 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  which  contained  that  valuable 
work  by  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  M.  A.,  entitled:  “Southern  Women  in 
the  recent  Educational  Movement  in  the  South.”  From  this  work 
I  find  that  the  number  of  female  teachers  in  the  United  States,  as 
given  in  the  reports  of  1888-1889,  was  227,302.  Statistics  of  public, 
private  and  parochial  schools,  in  the  United  States,  give  the  number 
of  pupils  as  follows:  White  pupils,  11,236,072;  colored  pupils, 
1,327,822;  private  pupils,  686,106;  parochial  pupils,  673,601.  These 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WO  MAH. 


169 


numbers  will  give  some  approximate  estimate  of  the  number  of 
American  girls  obtaining  preparatory  education.  From  the  same 
valuable  work  the  following  statistics  are  taken  regarding  the  number 
of  American  girls  receiving  higher  instruction  in  the  eight  colleges  for 
women  as  given  below:  In  the  records  for  the  year  1 888-’ 89  the 
total  number  of  students  being  2,150  including  the  enrollment  of 
Wellesley,  Vassar,  Mount  Holyoke,  Smith,  Wells,  Bryn  Mawr, 
Ingham  University  and  the  Society  for  the  Collegiate  Instruction  of 
women  in  Cambridge,  Mass.  A  statement  in  “Woman’s  Work  in 
America,’’  shows  that  up  to  1890,  Vassar  College  has  conferred  the 
degree  of  A.  B.  upon  between  800  and  900  graduates.  Among  the 
women  astronomers  at  Harvard  Observatory,  as  described  in  the  New 
England  Magazine ,  especial  mention  is  made  of  Miss  Maury,  in  the 
‘  ‘  study  and  classification  of  the  spectra  of  the  brighter  stars  photo¬ 
graphed  with  the  eleven-inch  telescope,’’  and  of  Miss  Leland,  who 
‘ 1  has  measured  forty  thousand  stars  of  about  the  tenth  magnitude, 
uniformly  distributed  over  the  sky,  and  these  measurements  will  be 
reduced  to  a  uniform  scale  to  furnish  standards  of  stellar  magni¬ 
tude.’’ 

In  the  famous  “  Moody  Schools,”  over  thirteen  hundred  young 
ladies  have  been  students  in  the  seminary. 

America  owes  to  the  faithful  girl  teachers  throughout  the  land,  in 
a  large  measure  the  efficient  work  which  has  promoted  the  universal 
education  for  which  this  country  is  famed. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  216,330  school  houses  in  the  United 
States,  and  in  most  of  these  institutions  it  is  the  educated  and  patient 
American  girls  who  mould  the  minds  of  the  rising  generation.  I 
think  it  is  safe  to  estimate  also  that  fully  three-fourths  of  the  teachers 
in  our  Sunday-schools  are  young  Christian  women. 

Out  of  the  six  hundred  students  at  the  Chicago  University, 
nearly  two  hundred  are  young  women. 

A  report  from  the  Government  Bureau  of  Education,  in  Washing¬ 
ton,  in  November,  1892,  shows  a  total  at  that  date  of  238,333  women 
teachers  in  the  public  schools,  and  the  total  number  of  women  teachers 
in  all  schools,  in  the  United  States,  356,000.  Number  of  women 
teachers  among  the  colored  people  of  the  South,  10,497.  Number 
of  colored  pupils,  1,309,251. 


170 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Among  Western  American  girls  may  be  noted  Miss  Ella  L. 
Knowles,  of  Montana.  She  is  called  the  “  Western  Portia.”  She 
is  a  successful  lawyer,  and  though  she  is  now  only  about  thirty,  she 
has  been  made  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  People’s  Party  as  its  can¬ 
didate  for  the  office  of  attorney-general  of  the  state.  Another  young 
Dakota  girl  of  fame  is  Miss  Emma  R.  Gary.  She  is  22  years  of  age 
and  has  made  a  reputation  as  an  artist,  having  executed  oil  paintings 
of  much  merit.  An  Oklahoma  heroine,  at  the  recent  settlement  of 
that  country,  was  Miss  Alden,  who  had  been  sent  as  a  reporter  by  a 
Western  newspaper  to  describe  the  exciting  scenes.  By  hard  riding 
on  her  pony  out  to  the  site  of  the  future  Oklahoma,  and  boarding  the 
train  which  took  the  party  of  reporters  back  to  the  telegraph  station, 
she  clambered  forward  to  the  engine,  and  even  out  upon  the  cow- 
catchef,  and  when  the  locomotive  came  opposite  the  station  she 
made  a  flying  leap,  landed  in  safety  on  the  platform,  and  before  her 
astonished  newspaper  comrades  could  alight  she  entered  the  office 
and  calmly  handed  her  manuscript  to  the  operator,  leaving  her  dis¬ 
comfited  rivals  to  wait  an  hour  before  their  gathered  news  could  be 
reported  by  the  telegraph  operator.  In  the  claiming  of  Government 
land  in  this  exciting  rush  for  securing  of  town  lots,  two  intrepid  girls 
of  eighteen  succeeded  by  their  quick  wits  in  gaining  a  valuable  site. 
Riding  with  speed  to  the  center  of  the  town  that  was  to  be,  they  dis¬ 
mounted  from  their  ponies,  rapidly  erected  a  folding  tent  in  the  most 
desirable  situation,  and  immediately  hung  out  a  sign  offering  to  take 
in  sewing.  By  this  means  they  were  able  to  prove  immediate  resi¬ 
dence,  and  secured  their  coveted  titles  without  difficulty. 

Miss  Anna  Kimball,  of  Southern  Kansas,  a  daughter  of  a  rancher 
of  that  section,  by  her  brave  daring  saved  the  life  of  Colonel  Rankin. 
Riding  out  on  her  pony,  Miss  Kimball  observed  a  huge  herd  of  cattle 
some  distance  away,  and  while  she  watched  the  animals,  the  herd  from 
some  unexplained  cause  broke  into  one  of  those  terrible  stampedes 
so  dreaded  by  cattle  owners.  Miss  Kimball  saw  at  a  glance  that  the 
life  of  Colonel  Rankin,  the  owner  of  the  herd,  was  in  imminent  dan¬ 
ger  from  the  rushing  mass  which  had  turned  towards  the  part  of  the 
prairie  where  he  was  standing,  unconscious  of  this  living  avalanche 
bearing  down  upon  him.  With  quick  decision  the  girl  plunged  the 
spur  into  the  side  of  the  pony  and  dashed  into  the  very  jaws  of  this 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


171 

awful  danger.  It  must  be  a  race  between  her  pony  and  this  furious 
herd  as  to  which  would  reach  the  bewildered  ranchman  first.  As 
she  reached  the  colonel,  she  leaned  over,  and  throwing  an  arm  around 
his  shoulders,  scarcely  slackening  her  speed,  he  caught  the  horn  of 
her  saddle  and  sprang  up  behind  her  just  as  the  herd  came  thunder¬ 
ing  on.  The  wiry  pony  quickly  made  tracks  for  the  open  plain,  and 
after  a  few  agonized  moments  they  were  safe. 

And  this  true  story  ends  quite  like  fiction  after  all,  for,  woman-like, 
after  the  brave  deed  was  done,  the  fair  heroine  fainted  and  the  sequel 
of  the  thrilling  adventure  reveals  the  girl-rescuer  as  the  Colonel’s 
wife. 

Noting  with  gratified  amazement  the  onward  push  of  the  American 
girl  of  to-day,  a  homely  little  story  told  by  Rev.  Olympia  Brown, 
regarding  forecasting  where  woman’s  progress  will  lead,  may  be 
allowed  here  in  illustration  of  the  woman  question. 

‘  ‘A  crate  of  puppies  was  standing  in  a  baggage-room  of  a  railway 
station.  A  traveler  observed  them  with  some  interest,  and  finally 
inquired  where  they  were  going. 

‘That’s  the  question  of  it,’  replied  an  employe,  eying  them 
critically,  ‘  I  dunno  where  they’re  goin’,  nobody  don’t  know  where 
they’re  goin’,  ‘the  puppies  theirselves  dunno  where  they’re  goin’ 
’cause  they’ve  dun  et  up  their  directions.’ 

Now,  that’s  the  way  it  is  with  the  women.  It  is  not  easy  to  define 
their  destination,  because  they’ve  ‘  dun  et  up  their  directions.’  ” 

But  we  can  safely  foretell  thus  far,  that  the  American  girl  will  soon 
learn  so  well  how  to  direct  herself  that  directions  from  past  genera¬ 
tions  will  not  be  necessary  to  point  out  her  vocation  in  life.  But  in 
this  onward  rush,  the  American  girl  must  guard  against  one  danger 
described  by  a  writer  in  the  Atlantic.  This  author  forcefully  says: 
‘  ‘  The  American  girl  will  wear  her  life  out  in  working  for  the  man 
she  loves.  She  forgets  all  about  being  for  him  in  that  merciless 
energy  which  always  drives  her  into  doing  for  him.  While  the  pro¬ 
fessors  at  Harvard  are  rejoicing  over  some  girl  who  can  take  in  their 
philosophies  or  their  mathematics,  the  newspaper  editor  sings  the 
praises  of  her  who  can  roast  a  turkey,  bake  bread,  or  make  her  own 
dresses.  Neither  gives  the  poor  girl  any  chance  to  exist,  but  only  to 
work  with  either  hand  or  brain.  No  one  says  to  her:  ‘You  are 


172 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


not  only  yourself,  but  possibly  the  future  mother  of  other  beings. 
Do  not  therefore  allow  yourself  to  be  driven  by  either  school  of 
apostles  beyond  what  you  may  do  easily,  comfortably,  or  pleasur¬ 
ably.  The  healthy  balance  of  your  nervous  system,  is  far  more  im¬ 
portant  to  you  and  your  future  family  relations,  than  all  the  mathemat- 
tics,  the  dress-making  or  even  roasting  of  turkeys.  Occupy  yourself 
steadfastly,  but  without  strain,  without  hurry,  and  without  emulation. 
As  the  apostle  said  (and  it  must  have  been  meant  expressly  for  Amer¬ 
icans),  ‘  avoid  emulation.’  Find  out  first  what  you  can  do  best,  and 
even  if  it  does  not  come  up  to  somebody  else’s  standard,  learn  to 
content  yourself  with  that.” 

The  names  already  cited  are  but  a  few  among  the  many  American 
girls  who,  by  their  helpful,  earnest,  self-sacrificing  lives  are  proving 
themselves  daily  blessings  to  the  inmates  of  their  own  homes,  and  are 
by  their  many  Christian  charities,  aiding  in  the  great  and  glorious 
cause  of  spreading  abroad  the  Glad  Tidings  of  the  Golden  Gospel  of 
universal,  Christ-like  Love. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


EVERY-DAY  WOMEN. 

BY  LUCY  M.  SPELMAN.* 

WHAT  does  not  America  owe  to  every-day  women,  the 
mothers,  wives,  sisters  and  sweethearts  of  the  hearth-stone  ? 
We  all  know  them,  we  all  love  them,  we  all  depend  upon  them,  but 
“  Universal  History  ”  is  slow  to  call  them  “  heroines.” 

Eager  to  reach  results,  we  sometimes  fail  to  observe  the  process  of 
training  through  which  the  woman  element  of  humanity  has  been 
passing  during  the  course  of  centuries.  But  that  very  process  of 
training  is  a  progressive  revelation  of  the  subtle  force  now  recognized 
as  a  potent  factor  in  the  affairs  of  life. 

In  the  early  ages  of  Paganism,  when  supremacy  was  given  to  the 
body  rather  than  to  the  soul,  there  were  cultivated,  intellectual, 
brilliant  women,  but,  with  few  exceptions,  they  were  neither  domes¬ 
tic,  moral  nor  virtuous.  They  were  luxurious  beauties,  knowing 
neither  the  fear  nor  hope  of  immortality.  They  had  no  fine  senti¬ 
ment,  no  acute  sympathy,  no  lofty  aspiration  of  soul. 

But  by  degrees  the  dawn  of  a  new  light  began  to  illumine  the 
world;  a  new  way  opened  before  the  feet  of  woman;  under  the 
magic  touch  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  heart  and  mind  began  to  expand; 
the  soul  leaped  into  conscious  existence  in  the  present  with  hope  of  a 
future  life,  and  Christianity  elevated  womanhood  into  immortality. 

The  world  seemed  very  full  of  every-day  women.  They  poss¬ 
essed  little  knowledge,  less  genius;  knew  absolutely  nothing  of  “  the 
law  of  natural  harmonies  and  mutual  balance,”  but,  the  law  of  laws, 
the  Law  of  Love  was  deeply  written  in  their  hearts;  they  made  it  the 
root  of  life;  from  it  they  evolved  a  set  of  forces  which  are  of 


*  Sister  of  Mrs.  John  D.  Rockefeller. 


174 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


exhaustless  influence  because  they  take  hold  of  the  eternal  verities, 
and  from  that  day  to  this,  the  spirit  of  tolerance  has  opened  wide 
gates  for  the  progressive  movement  which  has  swept  humanity 
onward  and  upward. 

No  institution  more  closely  touches  individual  life  than  the  home. 
There,  from  the  moment  that  “  the  household  trinity”  is  established 
commences  an  influence  which  underlies  every  other.  “  Ideals  are 
catching’  ’  seems  to  be  the  mother-motto,  though  often  unconsciously 
used,  as  with  unwearied  patience,  unerring  courage  and  unfailing 
love  she  wins  and  educates  the  powers  of  an  untried  soul. 

“Mother,”  exclaims  her  boy,  looking  into  her  eyes  with  the 
critical  judgment  of  growing  youth,  “Mother,  you  are  just  the 
dearest,  little  old-fashioned  mother  in  the  world!  ”  “Just  an  every¬ 
day  kind  of  a  mother,  but  oh!  I  wouldn’t  exchange  you  for  any 
other  woman  on  earth!”  That  blessed,  every-day  woman,  whose 
first  and  last  thought  every  day  and  all  day  is,  how  can  I  best  train 
these  souls  committed  to  my  care,  into  the  symmetrical  whole,  into 
the  perfect  likeness?  After  the  still  hands  are  folded, — “ready 
not  to  do,  at  last” — a  matured  manhood  looks  back  upon  a  long 
life  of  ceaseless,  every-day  efforts  and  cries,  “blessed  mother,  from 
first  to  last,  my  best  counsellor,  lover,  friend!  ” 

Out  of  the  home  circle  radiate  those  relations  which  develop  social 
life.  Every-day  women,  mothers,  wives,  sisters,  sweethearts  here 
reign  supreme.  Every-day  qualities,  tact,  tolerance,  good  nature, 
vivacity,  sentiment,  intelligence,  lift  women  high  in  the  scale  of  social 
superiority.  Every-day  men  pay  court  in  the  charmed  circle. 
Here  they  gather  enthusiasm  and  inspiration  for  wider  responsibili¬ 
ties,  entering  the  arena  of  business  and  of  government  with  a  high 
sense  of  service  and  obedience.  Eyes  not  blinded  by  the  dust  of 
traffic  possess  fine  perceptions  and  wide  vision,  and  reflect  the  lofty 
courage  of  untrammelled  souls  to  guide  and  inspire  those  who  meet 
the  sterner  battles  of  life. 

But  every-day  women  have  a  yet  broader  influence  extending  into 
all  the  relations  of  humanity  which  connect  it  with  the  end  and  aim 
of  being,  to  wit:  the  development  of  that  spirit  of  divine  helpfulness 
which  realizes  the  law  of  love  laid  upon  every  mortal,  as  the  com¬ 
mand  of  the  Highest.  Commencing  in  the  home  centre,  the 


Miss  Jennie  E.  Hooker. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


175 


hallowed  ministrations  of  love  strew  the  wayside  of  life  with  private 
generosities.  The  loftiest  sentiments  of  soul  are  kindled  into  en¬ 
thusiastic  devotion,  and  are  often  keyed  to  heroic  self-denial. 

At  this  moment,  when  the  whole  world  turns  with  wonder  and  ap¬ 
plause  to  greet  the  impressive  energy,  the  high  achievements  in  arts, 
science,  and  the  Christian  beneficence  which  our  country  has  already 
attained,  may  we  not  point  with  pride  to  what  America  owes  to  her 
every-day  women. 


FARMERS’  WIVES  AND  DAUGHTERS. 

BY  JENNIE  E.  HOOKER.* 

“Whatever  strong-armed  man  hath  wrought 
Whatever  he  hath  won, 

That  goal  hath  woman  also  reached, 

That  action  hath  she  done.” 

WHILE  with  all  womankind  we  acknowledge  the  truth  of  the 
foregoing  lines  and  point  with  pardonable  pride  to  a  long 
list  of  names  of  women  who  have  become  famous  inventors,  sculptors, 
painters,  writers,  musicians,  astronomers,  lecturers,  physicians,  teach¬ 
ers,  lawyers,  etc. ;  the  fact  must  not  be  overlooked  that  there  is  a 
class  of  women  whose  life-work  demands  as  much  responsibility  as 
that  of  her  favored  sisters,  whose  names  grace  the  records  of  the 
gifted  women  of  the  century. 

I  refer  to  the  Farmers'  Wives  and  Daughters ,  whose  silent  but 
wonderful  influence  is  felt  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land;  a  proof  of  which  maybe  seen  in  the  sketches  of  the  lives  of 
great  men,  a  large  percentage  of  whom  were  raised  upon  the  farm. 
And  while  the  biographer  readily  seizes  upon  every  incident  con¬ 
nected  with  the  boyhood  days  of  his  subject,  and  emphasizes  the  rail¬ 
splitting,  cattle-driving,  plowing  and  hoeing,  as  if  they  alo7ie  were 
stepping-stones  to  greatness,  few  have  been  so  honest  as  to  admit, 
that  while  the  surroundings  of  the  farmer-boy  were  such  as  to  develop 
self-reliance,  perseverance  and  industry,  the  greater  part  of  his  suc- 


*  Miss  Hooker  won  the  Cosmopolitan  prize  for  the  best  article  upon  this  subject. 


i76 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


cess  is  due  to  the  mother,  from  whom  he  gained  his  moral  and  intel¬ 
lectual  strength.  The  farmer’s  wife  is  brought  into  closer  relation¬ 
ship  with  her  family  than  are  her  sisters  in  the  city,  whose  time  is 
much  occupied  by  the  demands  of  society.  Her  family  is  her  chief 
society,  the  development  of  their  virtues  and  the  suppression  of  their 
vices  her  greatest  concern.  Her  every  care  is  centred  in  her  home, 
her  highest  enjoyment  is  the  success  of  her  children.  If  she  is  pos¬ 
sessed  of  broad  and  comprehensive  views,  if  the  active  brain  and 
willing  hands  are  supplemented  by  a  liberal  education,  how  much 
more  easy  does  her  task  become.  With  the  daily  routine  of  cook¬ 
ing,  scrubbing,  sewing,  dairy-work,  etc.,  she  manages  to  find  time 
to  read  the  papers,  the  latest  and  best  magazines,  and  occasionally  a 
good  book,  and  is  thus  enabled  to  talk  intelligently  of  the  main  issues 
of  the  day.  The  long  winter  evenings,  which  are  rarely  interrupted 
by  callers,  are  usefully  and  pleasantly  spent  in  playing  games,  read¬ 
ing,  studying,  or  in  enlivening  conversation,  just  as  the  taste  of  the 
various  members  of  the  family  may  dictate.  The  boys  of  such  a 
household  are  not  afraid  to  go  to  “  Mother  ’  ’  with  little  vexing  ques¬ 
tions,  making  her  their  confidant  of  all  childish  joys  and  troubles. 
And  as  the  years  roll  by  and  they  become  bearded  men,  capable  of 
settling  questions  which  involve  the  prosperity  of  a  nation,  they  are 
always  “  boys  ”  to  the  mother,  to  whom  they  still  come  for  comfort, 
and  whose  wise  counsel  first  guided  them  into  the  paths  of  honor. 

The  daughters  of  such  a  mother  are  taught  that  they  need  some¬ 
thing  more  than  the  mere  rudiments  of  knowledge.  Seldom,  indeed 
is  the  daughter  of  the  “  hard  tiller  of  the  soil”  hurried  through  the 
common  studies  at  a  boarding-school,  then  rushed  oft  to  a  female 
seminary,  where  a  few  months  spent  in  acquiring  a  smattering  of 
music,  drawing  and  French,  puts  the  finishing  touches  on  a  very 
shallow  course;  a  course  which  is  considered  quite  complete  when 
the  “accomplished”  young  lady  has  made  her  debut  and  secured 
“ a  catch.”  Now  music,  art  and  the  languages  are  not  undervalued 
by  the  farmer’s  daughter.  She  longs  for,  and  frequently  attains 
their  mastery,  but  she  has  been  taught  by  her  intelligent  mother  that 
these  are  not  enough  for  the  education  of  one  who  may  be  the  coun¬ 
sel  and  guide  of  the  future  statesman  and  the  warrior,  the  diplomate 
and  the  artisan.  To  her  care  and  training  may  be  entrusted  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


177 


poet  and  the  painter,  the  jurist  and  the  journalist;  around  her  knee 
may  cluster  the  Spurgeons,  Gladstones,  Clays  and  Websters  of  the 
future. 

For  this  reason,  if  no  other,  her  scholastic  attainments  should  be 
equal  to  or  greater  than  her  brother’s.  And  if  she  choose  to  remain 
single,  if  the  name  of  wife  and  mother  are  never  hers,  no  less  does 
she  need  a  thorough  education.  For  then,  freed  from  the  cares  of  a 
family,  she  may  be  found  in  the  professions,  the  hospitals,  and  even 
the  battle-field,  where  she  bravely  faces  death  in  order  to  care  for 
the  wounded  and  offer  words  of  consolation  to  the  dying.  If  there 
is  one  thing  that  dwellers  upon  the  farm  need  above  all  else  it  is  a 
chance  for  the  higher  and  broader  education  of  women.  Happily 
the  idea  is  fast  losing  ground  that  girls  need  less  knowledge  than 
boys,  and  hence  do  not  require  the  same  advantages.  In  many  lo¬ 
calities  the  same  library,  as  well  as  course  of  instruction  is  open  to 
both.  Thinking  minds  agree  that  if  the  study  of  mathematics  is 
good  for  the  son,  it  is  equally  so  for  the  daughter,  for  she  will  answer 
a  thousand  questions  which  he  will  never  hear  of — in  short,  there  is 
nothing  included  in  a  college  course  which  should  not  be  understood 
in  a  general  way  by  her,  into  whose  hands  are  to  be  committed  the 
moulding  and  influencing  of  the  future  citizen.  It  may  be  many 
years  before  the  life  of  the  average  farmer’s  wife  and  daughter  (es¬ 
pecially  the  former)  will  be  what  she  would  wish  it,  for  there  is 
yet  much  to  be  done  for  the  uplifting  of  the  country’s  children. 
There  are  many  dark  corners  into  which  the  straggling  sun¬ 
light  shines  but  feebly;  there  are  many  days  when  “budding 
flowers  and  blossoming  fruit,”  as  well  as  the  glorious  colors 
of  the  clouds  are  alike  unheeded  because  of  the  rush  and 
hurry  of  work  which  taxes  both  brain  and  muscle.  There 
are  times  when  heart  and  hands  are  filled  with  cares  so  heavy 
that  she  d  aubts  her  ability  to  lift  the  burdens,  much  less  carry  them 
safely  to  a  hopeful  ending  of  all  trouble.  The  1  ‘  hunger  for  beauty 
and  things  sublime”  often  grows  to  a  settled  longing,  and  few  there 
be  who  really  reach  the  goal  of  their  ambition.  But  through  it  all 
she  has  the  comfort  of  knowing  that  in  the  life  she  leads,  with  all  its 
work  and  worry,  she  is  more  independent  than  the  working  women 
of  any  other  walk  of  life. 


178 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


The  arrangement  and  disposition  of  her  time  is  more  at  her  com¬ 
mand,  than  that  of  any  one  from  the  ranks  of  the  large  army  of 
“bread  winners,”  who  toil  in  office,  store  or  school-room. 

“  But  after  the  strife  and  weary  tussle, 

When  life  is  done  and  she  lies  at  rest, 

The  Nation’s  brain  and  heart  and  muscle, 

Her  sons  and  daughters,  shall  call  her  blest. 

And  I  think  the  sweetest  joy  of  Heaven, 

The  rarest  bliss  of  eternal  life, 

And  the  fairest  crown  of  all  will  be  given, 

Unto  the  wayworn  farmer’s  wife.” 


WOMEN  IN  LITERATURE,  FICTION, 
POETRY  AND  JOURNALISM. 


Mrs.  Mary  Mapes  Dodge 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


WOMEN  IN  LITERATURE  AND  POETRY. 


EDITORIAL. 


“  A  Lady  with  a  lamp  shall  stand 


In  the  great  history  of  the  land, 

A  noble  type  of  good, 

Heroic  womanhood.” — Longfellow. 


MERICAN  women  have  gained  a  prominence  in  literature  which 


t\  places  them  in  the  front  ranks  of  living  writers.  A  well-known 
syndicate  manager  says  of  women  as  literary  workers:  “  It  is  an  in¬ 
disputable  fact  that  the  best  literary  work  to-day  is  being  done  by 
woman,  and  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  this  lies  in  the  fact  that  of 
the  fifteen  most  successful  books  published  within  the  past  two  years 
eleven  were  written  by  women.  In  my  experience  of  eight  years,  I 
have  found  literary  women  just,  fair,  always  courteous  and  obliging, 
and  capable  of  far  better  work  than  men  are  generally  willing  to 
credit  to  them.  I  have  found  their  work  more  evenly  meritorious 
than  that  of  men,  while  the  most  successful  articles  which  I  have 
printed,  in  both  newspapers  and  magazines,  came  from  the  pen  of 
women.” 

Regarding  the  work  of  American  women  in  magazines,  I  have 
gathered  the  following  statistics  through  the  courtesy  of  the  editors 
of  our  magazines  and  journals. 

Five  hundred  women  have  contributed  articles  to  the  Century 
Magazine  from  its  organization  under  the  old  name  of  “  Scribner;  ” 
Three  hundred  women  have  contributed  to  Harper*  s  Monthly ,  fifty- 
five  to  Scribner*  s  Magazine ,  two  hundred  to  the  Magazine  of  Poetry. 
Seven  to  eight  hundred  women  have  contributed  to  the  Ladies' 
Home  Journal  in  the  nine  years  since  its  organization.  A  year’s 


I  82 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR 


number  of  that  journal  represents  the  work  of  about  one  hundred  and 
forty  women;  twelve  women  are  on  the  editorial  staff,  and  nine 
special  women  editors.  Twenty-two  women  have  contributed  to  The 
Forum,  and  fully  two-thirds  of  tire  contributors  to  the  New  England 
Magazine  are  women.  I  was  not  able  to  get  statistics  regarding  the 
Atlantic,  St.  Nicholas,  and  Wide  Awake. 

Among  the  successful  women  editors  of  magazines,  must  be 
mentioned  the  names  of  Mrs.  Mary  Mapes  Dodge,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Croly, 
Mrs.  Frank  Leslie,  Mrs.  Ella  Farnam  Pratt,  Mrs.  John  A.  Logan 
and  the  l^te  Mrs.  Martha  J.  Lamb,  besides  a  long  list  of  well-known 
associate  editors  and  editors  of  newspapers  and  weeklies. 

Mrs.  John  A.  Logan  who  still  has  editorial  charge  of  the  Home 
Magazine,  well  deserves  the  following  recent  comment  in  a  leading 
journal:  *> The  environing  circumstances  of  her  late  husband’s  dis¬ 
tinguished  life  devoloped  her  ‘  career,’  as  surely  as  it  did  his.  Mrs. 
Logan  has  great  tact.  She  often  has  to  say  ‘  no,’  but  she  says  ‘  no  ’ 
gently  and  explicitly,  with  convincing  reasons  for  her  refusal.  Her 
literary  talent  has  been  well  tested.  She  possesses  that  balance  of 
powers  which  enables  her  to  discriminate,  appreciate,  accept  or  reject 
editorially,  and  her  descriptive  powers  are  fine  and  her  style 
didactic.” 

‘  *  The  widow  of  General  George  A.  Custer,  is  another  woman 
who  has  attained  literary  prominence.  She  has  become  a  con¬ 
spicuous  figure  in  the  group  of  American  women  who  make  up  a 
unique  literary  circle.  As  a  lecturer  she  is  everywhere  in  demand, 
on  the  strength  of  her  own  accomplishments,  as  well  as  on  account 
of  the  romance  that  attaches  to  her  name.  Mrs.  Custer  is  the  author 
of  several  successful  books,  descriptive  of  military  life  on  the  western 
frontier  and  a  volume  of  reminiscences  of  General  Custer  that  breathe 
the  spirit  of  patriotism  and  wifely  devotion.” 

Mrs.  Jessie  Benton  Fremont,  has  also  written  many  brilliant 
articles  for  the  magazines  and  newspapers,  and  is  alwavs  a  welcome 
contributor. 

Mrs.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  must  also  be  mentioned  in  this  con¬ 
nection;  as  she  has  recently  become  the  editor  of  the  “  Home  De¬ 
partment”  of  Godey' s  Magazine,  and  has  contributed  to  the  Ladies' 
Home  Journal  ”  during  the  past  year  a  series  of  delightful  articles  of 


4 


Mrs.  John  A.  Logan. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


183 


entertaining  reminiscences  of  the  great  pulpit  orator,  Mr.  Henry- 
Ward  Beecher.  Octave  Thanet,  noted  for  her  charming  stories,  has 
also  entered  the  ranks  of  editorship,  having  become  an  associate 
editor  of  the  The  New  Peterson  s  Magazine,"  and  Miss  Lilian 
Whiting  edits  a  department  of  Worthington' s  Magazine ; — “The 
World  Beautiful;’’ — in  which  she  portrays  with  keen  insight  the  un¬ 
seen  side  of  life,  where  arise  those  forces  afterwards  manifested  in 
“successful  endeavor,’’  which  make  possible  the  onward  progress  of 
the  age. 

Among  editors  and  associate  editors  of  journals,  newspapers,  and 
weeklies,  we  may  mention  without  encroaching  upon  the  article  on 
“Woman  Journalists,”  Miss  Kate  Field,  Miss  Susan  E.  Dickinson, 
Miss  Maude  Haywood,  Miss  Helen  Evertson  Smith,  Miss  Frances 
E.  Willard,  Miss  Margaret  A.  Sudduth,  Mrs.  Harriet  B.  Kells,  and 
the  late  Mary  Allen  West,  Mrs.  Sarah  C.  F.  Hallowell,  Lucy  Stone, 
Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  Mrs.  Harriet  S.  MacMurphy,  Mrs.  Annie 
Jenness  Miller,  Mrs.  Nettie  Leila  Michel,  Lydia  Starr  McPherson, 
Novella  Jewell  Trott,  Mrs.  Kate  Upson  Clark,  Jeannette  L.  Gilder, 
and  others  whose  names  appear  among  women  journalists. 

Among  women  essayists  who  are  constant  contributors  to  the  lead¬ 
ing  magazines,  Gail  Hamilton  wields  a  strong  pen,  Mrs.  Amelia  E. 
Barr,  depicts  social  themes  with  telling  force,  and  Agnes  Repplier, 
has  gained  well-earned  prominence.  Olive  Thorne  Miller  gives 
bright  glimpses  of  birds  and  their  ways,  and  Mrs.  Laura  E.  Richards 
gives  admirable  information  in  domestic  lines.  Miss  Isabel  F.  Flap- 
good,  Mrs.  Wister,  and  Katharine  Prescott  Wormeley,  have  attained 
great  excellence  as  translators.  Mrs.  Harriett  M.  Lothrop  (“  Mar¬ 
garet  Sidney”),  in  “  A  New  Departure  for  Girls,”  “was  the  first 
to  write  a  book  for  girls  who  are  left  without  means  of  support,  and 
who  are  wholly  unprepared  to  earn  money.  In  this  book  Mrs. 
Lothrop  makes  them  see  their  opportunities  in  the  simple  home¬ 
training  they  have  received.  Consequently  her  book  has  been  the 
basis  for  those  practical  attempts  to  help  girls,  such  as  advising 
them  to  open  mending  bureaus  and  the  like,  while  the  countless 
letters  from  all  over  the  country  attest  the  success  of  her  efforts.  ’  ’ 

The  following  incident  will  illustrate  the  power  of  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  books  ever  written  by  an  American  woman: 


184 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


HOW  MR.  BEECHER  READ  “UNCLE  TOM’S  CABIN.’*  ’ 

The  following  interesting  incident  is  reprinted  with  the  kind 
permission  of  Mrs.  Beecher.  It  is  taken  from  an  interview  pub¬ 
lished  in  a  recent  periodical. 

“I  was  talking  with  Mrs.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  a  few  evenings 
ago,  and  the  conversation  happened  to  turn  on  “Uncle  Tom’s 
Cabin.’’  I  asked  her  if  Mr.  Beecher  had  ever  expressed  an  opinion 
of  his  sister’s  famous  book,  and  she  told  me  this  interesting  story  of 
how  the  famous  preacher  read  the  story: 

‘  ‘  When  the  story  was  first  published  in  the  National  Era ,  in 
chapters,  all  our  family,  except  Mr.  Beecher,  looked  impatiently 
for  its  appearance  each  week.  But,  try  as  we  might,  we  could  not 
persuade  Mr.  Beecher  to  read  it,  or  let  us  tell  him  anything  about 
it. 

“  ‘  It’s  folly  for  you  to  be  kept  in  constant  excitement  week  after 
week,’  he  would  say.  ‘  I  shall  wait  until  the  work  is  completed, 
and  take  it  all  at  one  dose.’ 

“  When  the  work  was  finished,  the  book  came  to  Mr.  Beecher  on 
the  morning  of  a  day  when  he  had  a  meeting  on  hand  for  the 
afternoon,  and  a  speech  to  make  in  the  evening.  The  book  was 
quietly  laid  one  side,  for  he  always  scrupulously  avoided  everything 
that  could  interfere  with,  or  retard  work  he  was  expected  to  do. 
But  the  next  day  was  a  free  day.  Mr.  Beecher  rose  even  earlier 
than  usual,  and  as  soon  as  dressed,  began  to  read  ‘  Uncle  Tom’s 
Cabin.’  When  breakfast  was  ready  he  took  the  book  with  him  to 
the  table,  and  reading  and  eating  went  on  together;  but  speaking 
never  a  word.  After  morning  prayers  he  threw  himself  on  the  sofa, 
forgot  everything  but  his  book  and  read  uninterruptedly  till  dinner 
time.  Though  evidently  beginning  to  be  intensely  interested,  for  a 
long  time  he  controlled  any  marked  indication  of  it,  but  before  noon 
I  knew  the  storm  was  gathering  that  would  conquer  self-control,  as 
it  had  with  us  all.  He  frequently  ‘gave  way  to  his  pocket-handker¬ 
chief,’  to  use  one  of  his  old  humorous  remarks,  in  a  most  vigorous 
manner.  I  could  not  refrain,  in  return  for  his  teasing  me  for  reading 
the  work  weekly,  from  saying  demurely,  as  I  passed  him  once:  ‘you 
seem  to  have  a  severe  cold.  How  could  you  have  taken  it  ?  ’  But 


Mrs.  Harriet  M.  Lotlirop. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


185 


what  did  I  gain  ?  Not  even  a  half-annoyed  shake  of  the  head,  nor  a 
semblance  of  a  smile.  I  might  as  well  have  spoken  to  the  Sphinx. 

“  When  reminded  that  the  dinner  bell  had  rung,  he  rose  and  went 
to  the  table,  still  with  his  book  in  his  hand.  He  asked  the  blessing 
with  a  tremor  in  his  voice,  which  showed  the  intense  excitement 
under  which  he  was  laboring.  We  were  alone  at  the  table,  and 
nothing  to  distract  his  thoughts.  He  drank  his  coffee,  ate  but 
little,  and  returned  to  his  reading,  with  no  thought  of  indulging  in 
his  usual  afternoon  nap.  Evidence  of  almost  uncontrollable  excite¬ 
ment  in  the  form  of  half  suppressed  sobs  were  frequent. 

“Mr.  Beecher  was  never  a  rapid  reader.  I  was  getting  uneasy 
over  the  marks  of  great  feeling  and  excitement,  and  longed  to  have 
him  finish  the  book.  I  could  see  that  he  entered  into  the  whole 
story,  every  scene,  as  if  it  was  being  acted  right  before  him,  and  he 
himself  was  a  sufferer.  He  had  always  been  a  pronounced  Aboli¬ 
tionist,  and  the  story  he  was  reading  roused  all  he  felt  on  that  subject 
intensely. 

‘  ‘  The  night  came  on.  It  was  growing  late,  and  I  felt  impelled 
to  urge  him  to  retire.  Without  raising  his  eyes  from  the  book, 
he  replied: 

“  ‘Soon,  soon!  you  go;  I’ll  come  soon.’ 

“  Closing  the  house,  I  went  up  to  our  room;  but  not  to  sleep. 
'The  clock  struck  twelve,  one,  two,  three;  and  then,  to  my  great 
relief,  I  heard  Mr.  Beecher  coming  up  stairs.  As  he  entered,  he 
threw  ‘  Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin,’  on  the  table  exclaiming:  ‘There,  I’ve 
done  it!  But  if  Hattie  Stowe  ever  writes  anything  more  like  that 
I’ll — well!  She  has  nearly  killed  me  anyhow!  ’ 

“And  he  never  picked  up  the  book  from  that  day.” 

As  Mr.  Stedman  says:  “  The  women  writers  of  prose  fiction  are 
held  in  honor  throughout  the  English-speaking  world.” 

In  this  field,  Mrs.  Ellen  Olney  Kirk,  who  has  contributed  to  our 
Souvenir  the  interesting  article  upon  “  The  Woman  Fiction  Writers 
of  America,”  has  gained  an  honored  place.  All  of  Mrs.  Kirk’s 
works  are  characterized  by  lofty  aims  and  strong  strokes,  and  her 
characters  stand  out  with  vivid  clearness,  while  the  uplift  of  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  the  story  thrills  through  every  sentence.  Few  novelists  of 
recent  days  have  drawn  a  purer  ideal  than  “  Margaret  Kent.”  Mrs. 


i86 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Kirk’s  novel,  “  Queen  Money,”  evinces  perhaps  more  genius  in  this 
respect,  that  only  rare  intuition  could  have  enabled  a  woman  to 
sketch  business  transactions  and  masculine  peculiarities  with  such 
vigor  and  life-like  reality.  Mrs.  Kirk  outlines  her  figures  upon  the 
page  with  the  skill  of  the  cameo-artist,  so  clear-cut  are  the  strokes, 
while  a  tenderness  of  tone,  and  a  harmony  of  color,  give  a  dreamy, 
yet  invigorating  atmosphere  of  thought  and  feeling.  As  I  should  en¬ 
croach  upon  the  subjects  allotted  to  Mrs.  Kirk,  and  to  Miss  Susan  E. 
Dickinson,  by  mention  here  of  novelists  and  journalists,  I  will  only 
add  some  comments  upon  women  poets.  In  “Woman’s  Work  in 
America,”  published  about  two  years  ago,  there  was  an  instructive 
article  by  Miss  Dickinson  upon  women  in  journalism.  Many  have 
been  the  women  singers  in  America  since  Colonial  times.  Their 
names  can  be  counted  by  hundreds.  Among  them  are  many  twitter¬ 
ing  sparrows,  whose  homely  little  ditties  are  pleasing,  like  all  domes¬ 
tic  memories  clustering  around  even  very  mediocre  homes.  There 
are  some  whose  songs  have  been  those  of  the  busy  bees,  a  gentle, 
useful  humming,  quieting,  though  not  inspiring.  Others  have  been 
but  mocking  birds,  singing,  ’  tis  true,  at  times  with  well  turned  note, 
but  it  was  very  manifest  that  the  pitch  was  not  a  natural  tone,  though 
commendable  as  a  worthy  imitation  of  some  other’s  skilful  lay. 

Others,  again,  have  been  true  woodland  songsters,  filling  the  sun¬ 
lit  air  with  gladsome  melody. 

Mr.  R.  H.  Stoddard  says,  regarding  the  women  poets  of  America: 
‘‘We  have  outgrown  such  singers  of  spontaneous  verse  as  Mrs. 
Hemans  and  Miss  Landon,  and  we  insist  that  our  songstresses  shall 
outgrow  them  too.  If  they  must  reflect  other  minds,  those  minds 
must  be  of  a  larger  order  than  their  own,  or  we  will  none  of  them — 
at  second  hand.  There  is,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  more  force,  and 
more  originality — in  other  words,  more  genius — in  the  living  female 
poets  of  America  than  in  all  their  predecessors,  from  Mistress  Anne 
Bradstreet  down.  At  any  rate,  there  is  a  wider  range  of  thought  in 
their  verse,  and  infinitely  more  art.” 

In  this  National  Souvenir  we  mention  several  of  those  by-gone 
singers,  not  so  much  for  value  of  the  song  they  sang,  but  because  it 
was  noteworthy  in  the  history  of  our  country  that  they  sang  at  all  in 
the  midst  of  the  stern  realities  of  the  struggling  life  of  our  young 
Republic. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


187 


Before  the  Revolution,  Mrs.  Anne  Bradstreet  received  the  flatter¬ 
ing  praises  of  Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  and  John  Rogers,  while  the  first 
graduate  of  Harvard  College  attempted  Homeric  phrases  in  his  eulo¬ 
gistic  outbursts  in  her  honor. 

To  sing  well  in  modern  times  when  the  literary  woods  are 
thick  with  songsters,  requires  peculiar  warbling  powers  unknown 
to  Colonial  times.  Passing  down  to  Revolutionary  times,  we 
meet  the  verse  of  Mrs.  Mercy  Warren.  Her  rather  vigorous  lines 
are  noteworthy  for  their  patriotic  fervor,  and  also  because  her 
name  is  associated  with  that  of  Washington,  she  having  dedi¬ 
cated  her  poems  to  him.  Among  the  early  singers  of  homely 
verse,  was  Mrs.  Nancy  Sproat,  of  Taunton,  Massachusetts,  who 
was  in  truth  a  kind  of  Colonial  St.  Nicholas,  in  that  she  was 
the  first  to  provide  special  literature  for  the  young,  an  hitherto 
unthought-of  possibility;  for  the  young  of  that  generation  were  ex¬ 
pected  to  gain  their  intellectual  diversion  from  Puritan  hymn-books, 
and  didactic  sermon  tracks.  It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  Mrs. 
Sproat’ s  “  Blackberry,  Girl  ”  was  hailed  by  the  boys  and  girls  a  cen¬ 
tury  ago,  with  the  warm  welcome  now  awarded  to  our  famous  St 
Nicholas  and  Wide  Awake  treasures. 

Mrs.  E.  S.  Deane  has  kindly  contributed  the  following  items  re¬ 
garding  Mrs.  Sproat. 

“In  the  early  part  of  this  century  when  books  for  children  and 
youth  were  few,  and  those  poorly  adapted  to  their  wants,  Mrs. 
Nancy  Sproat  composed  a  number  of  stones  for  the  young  in  verse, 
which  were  written  primarily  for  the  instruction  and  entertainment  of 
her  own  children  and  their  young  friends.  Various  were  the  themes 
of  these  juvenile  poems,  and  in  many  families,  the  hymns  and  dia¬ 
logues  in  which  important  questions  were  discussed  were  committed 
to  memory,  and  recited  at  home,  and  in  the  schools.  Perhaps  the 
most  widely  known  of  Mrs.  Sproat’ s  tales,  was  the  ‘Blackberry 
Girl,’  which  was  printed  on  pocket  handkerchiefs,  with  pictures 
illustrative  of  the  story,  and  given  as  a  ‘  reward  of  merit  ’  to  good 
boys  and  girls.  Parents  found  in  Mrs.  Sproat’ s  books  a  very  effi¬ 
cient  aid  in  training  their  children  in  virtuous  habits.” 

We  have  given  this  space  to  Mrs.  Sproat  not  for  the  quality  of  her 
singing,  but  from  sympathy  with  those  by-gone  lads  and  lassies, 


1 88 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


whose  Puritan  consciences  were  allowed  to  absorb  these  delectable 
mental  sweets,  without  the  tormenting  fear  of  eternal  perdition, 
consequent  upon  such  hitherto  forbidden  relaxation  from  the  three- 
hour  sermons  of  a  Sunday,  and  the  dull  text-books  of  the  school¬ 
room. 

Coming  down  to  Maria  Brooks,  we  find  her  a  singer  of  sufficient 
note  to  interest  Robert  Southey,  whom  she  met  in  a  visit  to  England; 
the  pbet  manifesting  not  only  his  friendship  for  the  American  poetess, 
but  his  appreciation  of  her  song,  by  taking  it  upon  himself  to  secure 
the  publication  of  her  book  of  poems  in  London. 

In  the  first  hall  of  this  century  the  religious  and  love-songs  of 
Lydia  H.  Sigourney,  gained  for  her  the  title  of  “The  American 
Mrs.  Hemans.’’ 

The  poems  of  Sarah  Ellen  Whitman  are  graced  with  varying  pic¬ 
tures  of  the  seasons.  The  poetry  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Oakes-Smith  is 
strongest  in  dramatic  lines,  while  Mrs.  Ann  S.  Stephens  is  perhaps 
as  famed  for  her  song  of  “  The  Polish  Boy/’  as  for  her  well-known 
novels. 

The  themes  of  the  poems  of  Mrs.  Anna  L.  Botta  are  elevated,  and 
reach  sometimes  into  the  ideal  realm.  Never  was  a  sweeter  mother- 
song  than  Emily  J  udson’ s  “My  Bird,  ’  ’  which  has  sung  itself  over  again 
in  every  happy  mother’s  heart,  the  wide  world  round,  and  Margaret 
Fuller’s  few  poems  ring  with  a  note  of  great  power.  Had  she  chosen 
the  realm  of  poesy,  her  strength  of  wing  and  boldness  of  stroke, 
would  have  accorded  her  the  eagles’  flight.  The  songs  of  Alice  and 
Phoebe  Cary  have  sung  themselves  throughout  the  land.  Miss  Lucy 
Hooper,  whose  death  Whittier  bemoaned  in  a  touching  tribute,  was 
a  sad  sweet  singer.  The  picturesque  verse  of  Mrs.  Frances  S.  Os¬ 
good  is  in  contrast  with  the  pathos  of  Lucy  Hooper. 

Among  tender  memories  of  past  song,  is  the  pathetic  mother- 
strain  of  Maria  Lowell’s  “Morning  Glory.’’ 

Regarding  our  later  women  poets  Mr.  Edmund  Clarence  Stedman 
says:  “Our  daughters  of  song  outnumber  those  in  England,  and 
some  of  them,  like  some  of  their  brethren,  have  thin  voices;  but  it 
is  just  as  true  that  much  genuine  poetry  is  composed  by  others,  and 
that,  while  we  have  none  whose  notes  equal  those  of  at  least  one 
Englishwoman,  in  average  merit  they  are  not  behind  their  fair  rivals. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


189 


Their  lyrics,  sonnets,  ballads,  are  feminine  and  spontaneous,  and 
often  highly  artistic.  To  be  sure,  our  aspirants  of  either  sex  are 
attempting  few  works  of  invention;  where  all  are  sonneteering,  it  is 
not  strange  that  women  should  hold  their  own,  yet  their  advance  in 
discipline  and  range  is  apparent  also  in  novels  and  other  prosework; 
they  know  more  than  of  old,  their  thought  is  deeper,  their  feeling 
more  healthy.  The  morale  of  their  verse  is  always  elevating;  in  other 
respects  it  fluently  adapts  itself  to  the  conventions  of  the  day.  These 
poets  mostly  sing  for  expression’s  sake,  and  therefore  without  affecta¬ 
tion.  They  often  excel  the  sterner  sex  in  perception  of  the  finer 
details  of  life  and  nature.  The  critic  would  be  a  renegade,  who,  after 
paying  his  tribute  to  feminine  genius  in  England,  should  not  recog¬ 
nize  with  satisfaction  what  has  been  achieved  by  his  own  country¬ 
women.  They  have  their  shortcomings,  not  the  least  of  which  in 
some  of  them  is  that  even  perfection  which  is  in  itself  a  fault;  but  a 
general  advance  is  just  as  evident  in  their  poetry  as  in  the  prose 
fiction  for  which  they  are  now  held  in  honor  throughout  the  English- 
speaking  world.” 

No  songstress  in  America  has  voiced  with  more  resounding  tones 
the  song  of  Liberty,  than  has  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  in  her  soul¬ 
stirring  ‘  ‘  Battle-hymn  of  the  Republic.  ’  ’  All  the  choirs  of  patriotic 
hearts  will  forever  chant  its  majestic  refrain,  and  the  ages  will  ring 
the  tidings  down;  “  Our  God  is  Marching  On!  ” 

Miss  Louisa  M.  Alcott,  has  voiced  the  bereaved  souls  of  all  mother¬ 
less  daughters,  in  her  pathetic,  yet  triumphant  song  of  ‘‘Trans¬ 
figuration.  ’  ’ 

Miss  Lucy  Larcom  is  a  true  wild-wood  songstress,  with  a  clear 
note  caught  from  nature’s  perfect  harmony. 

Mrs.  Rose  Terry  Cooke  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Stoddard  both  sing  in 
harmonious  attune  and  graceful  measure. 

The  song  of  Grace  Greenwood  is  strong  and  marked  with  individ¬ 
ualism  of  tone.  Mrs.  Celia  Thaxter  catches  the  sea  foam  and  weaves 
sea-pictures  of  fascinating  beauty,  framed  with  quaint  designs  of 
tangled  shells  and  rock-weeds.  Mrs.  A.  D.  T.  Whitney  sings  a 
tender  fireside  ballad  with  gentle  voice.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Akers 
Allen’s  well-known  song,  ‘‘  Rock  me  to  Sleep,  Mother,”  has  been 
echoed  at  every  hearth-stone. 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


190 

Mrs.  S.  M.  B.  Piatt’s  “The  End  of  the  Rainbow,”  and  “Ques¬ 
tions  of  the  Hour,”  are  specimens  of  her  felicitous  manner  of  answer¬ 
ing  child-thoughts.  Mrs.  Mary  Mapes  Dodge  rules,  through  the 
realms  of  the  St.  Nicholas,  myriad  girl-and-boy  hearts,  in  devoted 
allegiance  to  her  magic  sway,  whether  she  sings  a  charming  ballad 
or  tells  a  thrilling  tale. 

The  Goodale  sisters  warble  soft  spring  notes  among  the  apple 
blooms,  and  the  melody  of  Nora  Perry  sketches  as  it  sings  and  dances, 
a  dainty  Greenway  darling,  blooming  into  rosy-cheeked  maidenhood; 
so  charmingly  pictured  in  “  Tying  Her  Bonnet  Under  Her  Chin.” 

Miss  Louise  Imogen  Guiney  caught  successfully  a  Roman  echo, 
in  “  Tarpeia,”  and  Danske  Danridge  carols  a  fresh  delicate  bar  from 
woodland  madrigal. 

Mrs.  Louise  Chandler  Moulton,  in  her  “Swallow-Flights,”  strikes 
with  flying  wing  many  sweet  tones  from  the  Lyre  of  Fancy,  and 
Amalie  Rives  Chanler  murmurs  the  same  pathetic  wail  in  her  sonnets, 
“Grief  and  Faith,”  as  thrilled  through  her  prose  sketches.  The 
sentiment  which,  in  Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox,  is  the  gladsome  song  of  a 
merry  mood,  deepens  into  pathos,  when  Amalie  Rives  takes  up  the 
strain. 

Helen  Hunt  Jackson  flies  often  far  and  high  as  she  sings  her  songs; 
but  the  intense  sensitive  response  to  human  woe,  somewhat  binds  her 
flight.  Her  human  pity  slightly  stays  her  soaring  into  those  realms 
where  Elizabeth  Phelps  Ward’s  more  daring  wing  aims  for  the 
“  Gates  Ajar.” 

Miss  Edith  Thomas  has  caught  the  harmonic  accord  of  the  floral 
orchestra  of  wood  and  dale,  and  her  thought-harmonies  weave  them¬ 
selves  with  artistic  skill. 

Mrs.  Margaret  Deland  sings  a  dainty  summer  ditty  in  her  “  Frag¬ 
ments,”  and  strikes  a  deep  rich  chord  in  “  Life.” 

Helen  Gray  Cone  has  chanted  with  vibrating  verve  the  song  of 
toil  through  the  ages,  with  her  few  powerful  staccato  chords  in 
her  lines  entitled,  “To-day.”  Miss  Emma  Lazarus  sang  a  psalm 
of  the  Hebrew  nation  with  dramatic  fervor.  Mrs.  Harriet  Prescott 
Spofford  possesses  wide  range  of  poetical  pitch,  evinced  by  her 
gamut  of  tones  between  “Magdalen,”  and  “Goldsmith’s  Whistle.’’ 
She  always  strikes  a  pleasing  lyrical  cadence  through  all  her 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


191 

variety  of  themes.  Mrs.  Margaret  J.  Preston  sings  with  dramatic 
force  upon  many  classical  subjects;  but  her  little  Spring  song; 
though  veiled  by  its  Grecian  title,  ‘  ‘  Persephone,  ”  is  as  dainty 
a  bit  of  meadow  blossoming  and  whirring  wings  as  ever  bloomed 
and  chirped  under  less  learned  cognomen. 

Mrs.  Mary  Ashley  Townsend  flashes  rich  tints  of  Southern  climes 
athwart  the  music  of  her  songs.  Miss  Kate  Putnam  Osgood  sings 
in  all  moods,  from  “Sixteen  to  Sixty,”  with  life-like  fidelity. 
Mrs.  Rose  Hartwick  Thorpe,  unconsciously  flashed  into  fame  with 
her  well-known  “  Curfew  Must  Not  Ring  To-Night.” 

Mrs.  Margaret  E.  Sangster  strikes  upon  the  harp-strings  of  the 
heart,  pathetic  chords,  in  her  tender  “Our  Own,”  and  “Are 
the  Children  at  Home  ?  ’  ’  and  Mrs.  Mary  Riley  Smith  plays  on  the 
same  plaintive  string  in  “If  We  Knew.” 

Mrs.  Margaret  M.  Converse’s  book  of  poems  entitled;  “Sheaves,” 
received  from  Whittier  the  pleasing  commendation,  “It  is  a  sheaf 
in  which  there  are  no  tares.”  The  poems  of  Anna  Katharine 
Green,  more  widely  known  as  a  novelist,  combine  dramatic  interest 
with  touches  of  pathos. 

Among  other  singers  of  varied  and  attractive  strains,  are  Mrs. 
Fields,  Mrs.  Ella  Higginson,  Ella  Dietz,  Mrs.  Rollins,  Mrs.  Julia 
C.  R.  Dorr,  Harriet  McEwen  Kimball,  Charlotte  Fiske  Bates,  Miss 
De  Vere,  Miss  Shinn,  Mrs.  Rose  Hawthorne  Lathrop,  in  her  “Along 
the  Shore,”  and  Miss  Hutchinson,  in  her  “Songs  and  Lyrics.” 

Mrs.  Ina  D.  Coolbrith,  a  Californian  singer,  has  voiced  an  exalted 
strain  in  ‘  ‘  The  Poet.  ’  ’ 

There  is  a  majestic  rhythm  in  the  inspiring  poems  of  Miss  Edna 
Dean  Proctor,  and  her  recent  triumphant  ode,  “Columbia’s  Ban¬ 
ner,”  will  go  down  in  the  historic  annals  of  this  Exposition  year. 
In  this  connection  also,  Miss  Harriet  Monroe  has  achieved  marked 
and  quick  renown  in  her  “  Dedicatory  Ode.” 

Susan  Coolidge  is  as  charming  in  her  verses  as  in  her  delightful 
children’s  stories.  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Bradley,  Mary  N.  Prescott,  Mary 
Clemmer  Hudson,  Miss  Bushnell,  “Howard  Glyndon,”  “Owen 
Innsley,”  and  “Stuart  Sterne,”  are  all  pleasing  singers.  Mrs. 
Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  needs  no  musical  song  to  give  her  immor¬ 
tality  in  American  history,  but  as  she  too  has  joined  the  choir  of 


U)2 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


songstresses,  her  illustrious  name  must  appear  here.  Emily  Dick¬ 
inson  was  a  strange,  wild  singer,  with  so  weird  a  note,  that,  startled 
by  its  piercing  tone,  we  might  at  first  mistake  the  musical  strain  for 
discord. 

Did  space  permit  we  would  be  glad  to  gather  all  our  woodland 
birds  of  song,  and  fire-side  singers,  into  one  grand  chorus,  naming 
each,  but  we  can  only  mention  here  a  few  of  the  soloists  in  our  Amer¬ 
ican  choir  of  songstresses.  The  many  sad  souls  cheered,  the  many 
glad  hearts  voiced  by  these  sweet  singers  will  never  be  fully  known 
until  the  future  Golden  Dawn,  when  every  white-winged  thought  sent 
fluttering  upwards  towards  the  blue  of  Truth,  reflecting  on  its  snowy 
pinions  the  shining  light  of  Love,  and  singing  its  individual  note  of 
harmony,  will  at  length  join  in  the  one  perfect  chord  of  eternal  life, 
love,  and  truth.  The  themes  whereof  our  song-birds  sing,  midst  the 
shadows  and  sunshine  of  this  life,  are  so  varied  that  our  thoughts 
wander  with  pleasing  novelty  from  clover-top  to  mountain  height, 
from  tomb  to  seraphim,  now  charmed  with  some  dainty  bit  of  musi¬ 
cal  coloring,  again  lifted  by  an  inspiring  strain  above  die  din  and  dis¬ 
cords  of  the  sin  and  sorrow  of  this  earthly  existence. 

Note. — Since  the  above  was  written  one  of  our  sweetest  singers 
has  joined  the  seraph  choirs  beyond  the  shining  Gates  of  Pearl. 

OBITUARY. 

LUCY  LARCOM. 

Boston,  April  18. — Miss  Lucy  Larcom,  the  poetess,  died  last  evening; 
She  had  been  ill  for  some  time.  The  day  on  which  Dr.  Phillips  Brooks  was 
taken  ill  he  received  a  letter  from  Miss  Larcom  in  which  she  said  she  had  a 
presentiment  that  she  would  never  see  him  again  until  they  met  “  beyond  the 
river.” 

The  story  of  Lucy  Larcom’ s  life  and  aspirations  is  told  in  three 
verses  from  one  of  her  poems: 

‘‘To  work — to  rest — for  each  a  time; 

I  toil,  but  I  must  also  climb. 

What  soul  was  ever  quite  at  ease 

Shut  in  by  earthly  boundaries? 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


193 


“  I  am  not  glad  till  I  have  known 
Life  that  can  lift  me  from  my  own; 

A  loftier  level  must  be  won, 

A  mightier  strength  to  lean  upon. 

“And  heaven  draws  near  as  I  ascend; 
The  breeze  invites,  the  stars  befriend; 

All  things  are  beckoning  toward  the  Best; 
I  climb  to  Thee,  my  God,  for  rest!” 


CHAPTER  XX. 


WOMEN  FICTION  WRITERS  OF  AMERICA. 

BY  ELLEN  OLNEY  KIRK.* 

THE  appointed  work  of  the  Colonial  woman  in  America  was 
in  itself  so  original  and  creative,  it  called  for  such  free  play  of 
faculty,  such  generous  expenditure  of  the  whole  strength,  moral, 
intellectual  and  physical,  such  skill  in  invention,  such  pliant  adapt¬ 
ability  to  the  new  environment;  such  woman’s  wit  and  love  in 
the  re-creation  of  the  conditions  of  life  left  behind  in  the  old  world, 
that  it  could  hardly  be  a  subject  for  wonder  if  for  several  generations 
after  this  country  was  settled,  the  literary  instinct  scarcely  made 
itself  felt.  The  whole  tendency  of  that  early  epoch  was  towards  re¬ 
pression  of  individuality  and  denial  of  self-consciousness  except  as  it 
unfalteringly  insisted  in  taking  upon  itself  burdens  of  conscience. 
Then  too  the  natural  aptitude  of  woman  for  domestic  life  was  sup¬ 
posed  to  determine  her  gifts  and  appoint  her  occupations.  And 
rightly  so,  for  all  the  light,  order,  charm,  pleasantness  and  thrift  of 
the  colonies  came  from  the  mothers,  wives  and  daughters  who  could 
make  homes;  who  could  bake,  brew,  spin,  weave,  knit  and  in  every 
way  realize  the  ideal  of  the  virtuous  woman  in  Scripture. 

Nevertheless,  that  in  spite  of  the  incessant  occupations,  the  wear 
and  tear,  the  sordid  calculations  of  every-day  life,  the  literary  impulse 
did  exist  in  the  woman  of  that  period,  giving  incentive  to  brain  and 
heart  and  a  sense  of  expansion  to  life,  is  made  clear  by  numerous 
bundles  of  old  family  letters,  journals  and  narratives,  which  often  in 
short  passages  and  vivid  phrases  disclose  the  unmistakable  mint-mark 
of  talent.  Many  too  of  those  demure  and  decorous  colonial  dames 
in  their  caps  and  frills  could  turn  verses  with  no  little  skill,  generally 

*  Author  of  “  The  Story  of  Margaret  Kent,”  “Queen  Money,”  “  Sons  and  Daughters,”  etc. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


195 


taking  by  preference  Pope’s  heroic  couplet  for  their  measure.  There 
is  indeed  to  be  found  many  a  hint  in  old  records  that,  in  spite  of  their 
quaint  speech  and  their  rigid  orthodoxy,  they  were  in  essentials 
exactly  like  the  women  of  to-day,  with  a  knack  of  gracefully  adjusting 
the  transient  to  the  eternal  and  the  eternal  to  the  transient;  keen  of 
eye,  fond  of  color,  with  a  good  share  of  creative  poetic  understanding, 
and  with  a  fresh  interest  in  things  and  ideas  for  their  own  sake. 
Not  a  few  women  in  New  England  and  in  Philadelphia  were  as 
carefully  educated  in  Latin  and  Greek  and  perhaps  Hebrew  as  the 
girl-graduates  of  our  own  epoch,  and  here  and  there  one  was  to  be 
found  with  high  attainments  in  mathematics.  The  feminine  native 
wit  and  insight  into  character  and  motives  which  in  their  descendants 
was  to  make  novelists,  they  no  doubt  spent  in  giving  spirit  to  obser¬ 
vation  and  spice  to  talk.  Leaving  novel-writing  out  of  the  question 
there  was  little  novel-reading  in  those  days,  all  creations  of  fancy 
being  considered  at  once  trivial  and  mischievous.  If  fiction  enjoyed 
a  lease  of  existence  at  all  it  must  be  by  virtue  of  a  story  inculcating 
moral  and  religious  truths. 

Still,  in  spite  of  all  dogmatic  decrees,  imagination  did  exist,  and  it 
would  be  interesting  to  discern  the '  signs  of  the  earliest  gropings  of 
crude  talent  in  search  of  its  aim.  Not  until  the  latter  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  do  we  find  the  woman  authors  to  whom  can  be 
ascribed  the  glory  of  lighting  and  passing  on  the  torch.  Hannah 
Webster  Foster,  born  in  Boston  in  1759,  was  the  author  of  “A 
Coquette,  or  the  History  of  Eliza  Wharton,”  also  of  ‘‘The  Boarding- 
School.”  Susannah  Rawson,  born  in  1761,  the  daughter  of  a 
lieutenant  of  the  Royal  Navy  and  the  wife  of  an  army  officer,  wrote 
many  books,  several  of  them  novels,  of  which  one,  ‘  ‘  Charlotte 
Temple,”  in  its  day  enjoyed  wide  popularity  and  may  still  be  found 
in  old  libraries.  Mrs.  Rawson,  besides  being  a  voluminous  author, 
passed  through  a  life  of  many  phases,  acting  on  the  dramatic  stage 
and  finally  carrying  on  for  many  years  a  girl’s  school  at  Medford, 
Mass.  Miss  Eliza  Leslie  may  be  called  the  link  between  those  early 
days  and  our  own.  Born  in  1787,  in  Philadelphia,  from  which  city 
flowed  in  early  days,  no  matter  how  it  has  since  diverged,  the  well- 
spring  of  literary  impulse,  she  enjoyed  many  social  advantages,  her 
father  being  the  intimate  friend  of  Washington  and  sent  by  him  on 


196 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVEN IR. 


business  to  England.  Miss  Leslie  was  about  forty  years  of  age  and 
in  possession  of  a  wide  experience  when  she  competed  for  a  prize 
offered  by  Godey’s  Lady’s  Book  and  won  it  by  her  novel,  “Mrs. 
Washington  Potts.’’  This  was  followed  by  other  works  of  fiction 
and  by  the  famous  cook-book  which  entitles  her  to  be  called  the 
prototype  of  Marion  Harland  (Mrs.  Terhune)  the  well-known  modern 
author  whose  lively  and  vigorous  fiction  is  equalled  in  popularity  by 
her  “Common  Sense  in  the  Household’’  and  other  works  of 
practical  utility. 

The  early  days  of  the  Republic,  although  they  are  rich  in  letters 
and  journals,  seem  not  to  have  stimulated  imaginative  literature,  and 
a  period  distinguished  in  England  by  a  galaxy  of  great  writers  em¬ 
bodying  the  ideas  and  enthusiasms  resulting  from  our  own  and  the 
French  revolutions,  was  here  comparatively  barren. 

Miss  Catherine  Sedgwick  began  in  1822  to  publish  a  series  of 
novels  which  gave  her  a  prominent  place  among  American  authors, 
and  in  1824,  Mrs.  Lydia  Maria  Child  brought  out  her  “Hobomok,” 
which  was  followed  by-  other  works  of  fiction,  one  of  which  “  Philo- 
thea  ’’  still  remains  unique  in  its  scope  among  the  efforts  of  Ameri¬ 
can  writers.  It  was  Mrs.  Kirkland  who  perhaps  made  the  best  use 
of  her  opportunity  to  offer  something  true,  racy  and  corresponding 
to  the  needs  of  the  rapidly  widening  country,  and  she  had  the  wit 
to  put  her  finger  on  the  pulse  of  the  time  in  her  series  of  sketches 
telling  of  the  experiences  of  settlers  in  the  West.  Hers  was  a  genu¬ 
ine  woman’s  touch  and  her  descriptions  were  characterized  by  wit, 
humor  and  a  charming  lightness  of  manner.  Readers  of  ‘  ‘  Zury  ’  ’  and 
“  The  Mac  Veaghs”  might  well  go  back  to  “  Western  Clearings,” 
and  trace  the  influence  of  heredity  in  the  free  and  bold  development 
which  the  novels  of  Mrs.  Kirkland’s  son  have  made  on  the  ground 
first  broken  by  her.  Alice  Cary’s  “  Clovernook,  or  Recollections  of 
our  Neighborhood  in  the  West,”  although  a  little  later  in  date,  be¬ 
longs  to  the  same  general  period,  and  is  of  the  same  character  as  Mrs. 
Kirkland’s  sketches.  But  “Clovernook,”  good  as  it  was,  was  far 
from  being  the  distinguishing  work  of  its  author,  who  with  her  sister, 
Phoebe  Cary,  must  be  ranked  not  with  our  novelists,  but  with  the 
best  of  our  minor  poets.  Many  old  New  Yorkers  still  recall  the  lite¬ 
rary  and  social  coteries  which  both  Mrs.  Kirkland  and  Miss  Cary 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


197 


gathered  about  them;  coteries  including  not  a  few  of  the  elements 
which  go  to  make  up  the  “salon,”  but  which  in  the  hurrying  war  of 
modern  existence  women  have  lost  the  knack  of  re-creating. 

Among  the  shaping  influences  of  the  middle  of  the  century, 
Margaret  Fuller’s  writings  should  not  be  lost  sight  of.  Chiefly 
critical  although  they  were,  they  were  so  closely  allied  in  thought  and 
feeling  to  the  impassioned  side  of  human  progress  that  they  helped 
to  quicken  and  intensify  all  literary  life.  Nor  must  the  wider  orbit  of 
the  greater  constellations  which  mark  the  hours  be  ignored.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  forties,  and  again  of  the  fifties,  a  woman  writer,  arose 
in  England  who  created  an  epoch.  It  could  not  be  but  that  “Jane 
Eyre”  with  its  deep  subjectivity,  its  intense  and  intimate  feeling  for 
the  woman’s  problem,  its  scorn  for  accepted  formulas  and  for  all 
that  in  the  ideals  of  the  formalists  represents  the  worth  of  life,  should 
have  something  to  do  with  the  turning  of  tides  in  the  world  of  im¬ 
aginative  literature.  It  was  easy  to  recognize  behind  it  a  most  vigor¬ 
ous  and  distinctive  personality.  The  book  was  in  all  respects 
aggressive;  it  was  absolutely  a  fresh  thing  of  the  morning  in  the 
general  experience.  Such  vivid  picturing  must  have  subtly  stirred 
the  impulse  in  many  a  woman’s  mind  to  bring  her  own  imagination  to 
realize  glimpses  of  life  caught  in  the  magic  mirror  of  her  own  con¬ 
sciousness. 

In  1852  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  published  “Uncle  Tom’s 
Cabin.”  Already  it  had  been  read  as  a  serial  in  the  National  Era. 
In  book  form  the  sale  of  the  novel  in  the  United  States  reached  100,- 
000  in  eight  weeks,  200,000  within  a  year,  and  313,000  by  1856. 
The  London  publishers  for  four  weeks  were  called  upon  to  furnish 
100,000  copies  a  day,  which  necessitated  their  keeping  1,000  persons 
engaged  in  printing  and  binding  copies  to  meet  the  general  demand. 
More  than  a  million  of  copies  were  sold  in  England  in  one  year. 
Books  sometimes  seem  to  have  an  existence  and  an  efficacy  of  their 
own  almost  independent  of  the  author’s  volition.  For  such  a  miracu¬ 
lous  success  as  that  enjoyed  by  “Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin,”  two  forces  must 
coincide,  the  power  of  the  book  and  the  opportuneness  of  the  mo¬ 
ment.  Mrs.  Stowe  embodied  ideas  of  which  the  germ  had  begun  to 
move  the  general  consciousness.  Powerful  spirits,  fortelling  strange 
events  which  should  make  and  unmake  history  were  already,  for  those 


198 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


who  watched,  waited  and  listened,  abroad  upon  the  air.  A  feeling  for 
the  sorrow  of  humanity,  a  recognition  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  is 
the  crystallizing  center  round  which  the  forces  of  modern  thought  and 
modern  sympathy  gather.  A  book  like  “  Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin  ”  of¬ 
fered  no  insoluble  problem.  Here  was  a  crying  evil,  but  an  evil  not 
without  a  remedy.  Optimism  could  enjoy  free  play.  The  book 
stirred  hopes  and  beliefs  which  harmonized  with  the  naturally  progres¬ 
sive  spirit  of  mankind,  and  the  beacon  light  towards  which  the  race 
advances  burned  clearly. 

To  this  epoch  belongs  Mrs.  Ann  S.  Stephens,  whose  “Fashion 
and  Famine’’  “  Hot  Corn’’  and  other  novels,  aroused  strong  inter¬ 
est  and  emotion.  If  these  works  more  than  others,  have  surrendered 
to  the  course  of  time  and  been  swept  away,  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  Mrs.  Stephens  did  much  to  help  the  early  strivings  of  American 
literature.' 

I  should  like  to  assert  that  a  perennial  spring  of  freshness  plays  in  cer¬ 
tain  books  which  gave  me  immense  pleasure  in  the  long  ago.  I  lately 
took  pains  to  buy  a  new  edition  of  “The  Wide,  Wide  World”  by 
Miss  Susan  Warner  and  her  sister,  and  should  have  enjoyed  pur¬ 
chasing  as  well  “  Oueechy  ”  for  some  little  people  just  beginning  to 
take  excursions  into  the  fairy-land  of  literature.  I  like  to  maintain 
that  no  modern  story-writers  for  girls  are  half  so  well  worth  perusal 
as  these  excellent  sisters  who  had  the  ear  and  the  hearts  of  my  gen¬ 
eration.  I  dipped  into  my  new  copy  of  ‘  ‘  The  Wide,  Wide  World  ’  ’  a 
little,  then  closed  it  forevermore, lest  some  one  should  press  the  question 
“Are  not  the  heroes  prigs  and  the  heroines  goody-goody  ?  ”  and,  I, 
having  tested  the  efficacy  of  the  ancient  magic  by  re-perusal  and  been 
disenchanted,  might  be  compelled  to  confess  that  they  were.  Yet 
still,  under  the  old  glamour,  I  will  go  on  maintaining  that  “  Queechy  ” 
is  of  all  books  the  most  excellent  and  delightful  that  a  girl  can  read. 

“Alone,”  by  Marion  Harland,  “The  Lamplighter,”  by  Miss 
Cummins,  a  little  later  “Beulah,”  by  Miss  Augusta  Evans,  now 
Mrs.  Wilson  of  Mobile,  and  “  Rutledge,”  by  Miriam  Coles  (Har¬ 
ris)  were  four  novels  which  kindled  lights  in  those  ante-bellum  days, 
were  widely  read  and  deserved  the  success  they  attained.  Each  was 
in  its  way,  a  surprise,  each  suggested  a  new  vintage,  each  seemed 
born  of  a  fresh  and  creative  fancy. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


199 


George  Eliot’s  writings  were  by  this  time  beginning  to  move  all 
the  Engish-speaking  world,  and  as  this  inspiration  coincided  with 
that  of  our  own  great  national  era  it  might  well  be  expected  that 
we  should  henceforth  find  in  our  literature  more  drama,  more 
passion,  a  deeper  conscience  and  a  more  definite  hope;  that 
there  would  be  among  our  writers  a  clearer  conception  of  the  actual 
world  of  their  environment  with  its  men,  women  and  salient  facts. 

Other  influences  were  busy  in  shaping  and  determining  the  scope 
of  literary  effort  in  America.  Godey' s,  Peterson' s  and  Graham' s 
Magazines  had  done  much  to  conquer  the  public  and  prepare  the 
way  for  periodical  literature  of  a  higher  order  presided  over  by  a 
new  critical  spirit  and  under  the  domination  of  a  more  exact  taste. 

In  the  same  way  that  Putnam’s  Magazine  had  brought  into  notice 
men  destined  to  make  a  permanent  name  in  letters,  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  was  now  to  give  a  strong  impulse  to  American  literature  in 
general  and  to  open  a  field  where  women  in  particular  were  to  take 
high  honors.  The  influence  indeed  of  the  popular  Magazines, 
Harper' s,  the  Century ,  Scribner' s,  Lippincott' s  etc.  etc.  has 
been  paramount  not  only  among  writers  but  readers.  While  the 
English  public  sits  patiently  ready  to  enjoy  the  finely  spun  gold  of 
the  English  writer  spread  out  to  cover  the  three-volume  novel,  our 
readers  demand  something  more  brief  and  dramatic.  Our  writers 
aim  at  genre  pictures;  that  is  they  detach  a  sample  fragment  of  life; 
take  an  episode  which  they  refine  and  idealize,  or  which  offers  some 
climax  in  the  careers  of  men  and  women. 

The  unrelieved  intensity,  the  prolonged  stress  of  our  na¬ 
tional  struggle  no  doubt  made  itself  felt  in  the  work  belonging 
to  this  era  of  ardor  and  enthusiasm,  which  if  in  its  way  realistic 
was  powerfully  interspersed  with  highly  wrought  imaginative 
idealism  caught  from  a  high-strung  mood  and  point  of  view. 
Rebecca  Harding,  now  Mrs.  Rebecca  Harding  Davis,  whose  name 
in  these  days  enjoys  a  double  significance,  belongs  to  this  period.  An 
intimate  knowledge  of  and  an  intense  feeling  for  the  real  life  she  des¬ 
cribes,  interpenetrated  with  a  clear  heroic  motive,  characterizes  this 
vigorous  and  brilliant  writer  who,  with  a  strong  grasp  of  the  political 
situation  could  handle  the  greatest  problems  of  the  day  and  find  in 
them  a  chance  of  free  play  for  her  artistic  and  literary  skill.  Harriet 


200 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Prescot  [Spofford],  with  her  enthusiastic  joy  in  her  subject,  and  artisti¬ 
cally  embodying  with  wonderful  versatility  whatever  touched  her  fancy 
and  feeling,  was  a  writer  of  the  most  brilliant  promise.  There  were 
also  Elizabeth  Stoddard,  the  wife  of  the  poet,  whose  work  showed  in 
every  touch  real  strength  and  a  rare  racy  quality: — Elizabeth  Stuart 
Phelps  gifted  with  a  deep  insight  into  life  as  well  as  with  a  power  to 
discern  universal  spiritual  forces  behind  the  machinery  of  real  life; 
capable  of  conceiving  with  strength  and  tenderness  the  history  of 
men  and  women  and  working  it  out  from  starting-point  to  goal  in  a 
way  to  move  deep  sympathies;  withal  a  hopeful  writer  and  with  a 
play  of  humor  about  her  subject: — Rose  Terry  Cooke,  permeated 
with  the  New  England  spirit,  who  loved  to  take  an  unheroic  figure 
patched  and  seamed  with  commonplace  instincts,  desires  and  hopes 
and  show- us  the  passion,  the  pathetic,  the  broadly  human  signifi¬ 
cance  and  the  actual  beauty  of  an  every-day  life: — Nora  Perry  whose 
stories  are  touched  with  much  of  the  fine  essence  which  char¬ 
acterizes  her  poetry: — Gail  Hamilton  in  whom  a  capital  story-teller 
and  essayist,  gifted  with  a  peculiarly  enjoyable  quality  of  humor,  was 
lost  in  the  didactic  writer  and  politician: — Mrs.  Louise  Chandler 
Moulton,  a  poet  but  a  graceful  prose  writer  as  well; — Susan  Coolidge, 
a  woman  of  generous  culture,  and  a  many-sided  author  to  whom  it  is 
a  difficult  matter  to  affix  a  particular  cachet  but  whom  we  must  claim 
on  the  strength  of  her  delightful  stories,  which  if  intended  chiefly  for 
girls  have  in  them  so  much  of  that  touch  of  feeling  which  makes  the 
whole  world  kin,  that  they  belong  to  old  and  young  alike.  Louisa 
Alcott,  although  the  author  of  at  least  one  novel,  will  be  remem¬ 
bered  longest  as  the  writer  of  children’s  books  who  went  far  to  realize 
Thackeray’s  ideal  when  he  said:  “  If  the  Gods  would  give  me  the 
desire  of  my  heart  I  should  write  a  story  which  boys  would  relish  for 
the  next  few  dozen  of  centuries.  The  boy-critic  loves  the  story,  grows 
up  to  love  the  author  who  wrote  the  story.”  Mrs.  Mary  Mapes 
Dodge  is  another  of  our  authors  whose  flights  go  hither  and 
thither  and  who  has  written  the  immortal  “Hans  Brinker. “  Mrs. 
Frances  Hodgson  Burnett  possesses  a  talent  whose  free  expansion 
has  given  her  an  enviable  pre-eminence  as  a  novelist,  a  dramatist,  a 
short  story-writer  and  a  writer  for  children,  and  no  more  original, 
vital,  fruitful,  work  than  her  “That  Lass  o’  Lowrie’s  ”  has  been 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WO  MAH. 


201 


known  in  America.  We  must  not  forget  Julia  Fletcher,  whose 
transcriptions  of  travel  made  picturesque  backgrounds  for  love-stories: 
— Blanche  Willis  Howard,  and  the  author  of  “An  Earnest  Trifler,” 
which  we  must  link  with  “  One  Summer’’  since  both  books  were  so 
brimful  of  the  charm  of  youth  and  the  happy  inconsequent  enjoyment 
born  of  pleasant  weather  and  happy  idleness.  Mrs.  Helen  Hunt  Jack- 
son  was  a  writer  in  many  fields,  but  above  all  a  novelist  of  quick  intel¬ 
ligence,  lucid,  penetrative  and  absolutely  sincere  with  a  sincerity  which 
grasps  the  heart  and  conscience  of  the  reader.  Harriet  Waters  Pres¬ 
ton  is  also  a  brilliant  many-sided  author  who  has  lavished  without  stint 
the  treasures  of  her  wit,  fancy,  experience  and  rare  scholarship  in  many 
directions.  Her  early  novels  “  Is  That  All”  and  “A  Romance  of 
the  Nineteenth  Century”  and  later  those  in  which  Miss  Louise 
Dodge  was  collaborateur,  “A  Year  in  Eden  ”  and  “  The  Two  Guard¬ 
ians”  are  all  alike  full  of  charm,  humor  and  far-reaching  insight: 
Mrs.  Katharine  McDowell  (Sherwood  Bonner)  was  a  writer  of  high 
promise  winning  laurels  which  she  had  too  little  chance  in  her  brief 
life  to  wear.  In  Constance  Fenimore  Woolson  we  have  a  rare 
artist  besides  a  most  admirable  novelist.  Her  books  show 
a  fine  balance  of  powers,  invention,  breadth  of  sympathy,  human 
force  and  charm,  with  a  felicitous  truth  in  description  and  a 
richness  of  local  color.  Our  list  grows  long  but  there  are  still  to 
be  enumerated  writers  like  Mrs.  Adeline  D.  T.  Whitney,  than  whom 
no  writer  for  girls  and  women  has  pressed  sweeter  and  nobler 
ideals  of  life  upon  them;  Mrs.  Jane  G.  Austin,  who  yields 
to  few  New  England  writers  in  excellence  and  whose  historical 
novels  light  up  dim  places  of  history,  vividly  reproducing  the 
men  and  women  who  made  the  Massachusetts  Colony  a  beacon 
light;— Mrs.  M.  H.  Catherwood,  also  a  successful  historical 
romancer,  who  perhaps  has  chosen  in  the  diversity  of  races,  types 
and  religions  of  early  Canada,  even  a  richer  field  than  the  home  of 
the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans; — Mrs.  Amelia  E.  Barr,  a  versatile  story¬ 
teller  of  unfailing  popularity; — Mrs.  AnnisL.  Wister,  the  adapter  and 
translator  of  German  novels  who  possesses  the  art  known  to  few  trans¬ 
lators  of  giving  to  her  work  a  spontaneity,  ease  of  movement  and 
felicity  of  truth  surpassing  that  of  the  original; — Mrs.  Sarah  Butler 
Wister  whose  stories,  rare  as  angels’  visits,  evince  a  subtle  artistic 


202 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


quality  and  a  perfection  of  technique  rarely  rivalled; — Miss  Frances 
Courteney  Baylor,  a  Virginian,  whose  abundant  wit  plays  over  her 
subject  and  helps  her  characters  to  take  shape  and  live,  breathe  and 
have  their  being  before  our  eyes; — Mrs.  Burton  Harrison  also  a  Vir¬ 
ginian  whose  love  of  the  South  gives  her  Southern  stories  the  color 
and  sincerity  and  attractiveness  which  belong  to  the  generous 
illusions  which  are  a  part  of  tradition  and  inheritance,  and  whose 
clear-eyed  knowledge  of  the  world  finds  free  play  in  her  novels  of 
New  York  life,  where  she  wields  the  sword  of  Saladin,  cleaving 
through  the  silken  meshes  of  the  flimsy  fashion  of  this  world; — Mrs. 
Van  Rensaellar  Cruger  and  Mrs.  John  Sherwood,  New  York  women, 
whose  books  show  clear  insight  and  clever  renditions  of  a  full 
experience;  Charles  Egbert  Craddock  (Miss  Murfree)  one  of  whose 
many  triumphs  was  to  win  the  laurels  as  a  man  which  she  was  to 
wear  as  a  woman;  a  novelist  of  great  power  whose  work  has  rein¬ 
forced  and  enriched  all  literature  with  the  freshness  belonging  to 
wild  nature  and  altitudes  of  unspoiled  human  feeling. 

And  in  this  group  of  writers  we  must  not  fail  to  include  the 
lamented  Emma  Lazarus,  the  author  of  “Alide,”  a  novel  of  much 
insight,  but  chiefly  a  poet  of  high  distinctive  gifts  in  whom  the 
genius  of  race  met  the  genius  of  temperament. 

In  all  these  writers  of  fiction,  each  with  her  own  specific  gifts,  her 
own  specific  way  of  seeing,  thinking  and  feeling;  each  offering  a 
different  phase  of  experience,  a  different  intellectual  quality,  a 
different  spiritual  insight  and  making  a  different  appeal  to  sym¬ 
pathy,  we  are  yet  conscious  of  the  same  idealistic  impulse;  the 
idealism  which  is  the  gage  of  their  essence  as  individuals  with 
minds,  hearts  and  souls  and  the  pledge  of  artistic  and  literary 
development.  Yet  it  may  still  be  seen  that  the  imaginative 
powers,  at  first  if  powerfully,  sometimes  crudely  stirred,  have 
ripened  along  with  the  judgment,  and  that  more  and  more  the 
artistic  bent  is  towards  objectivity,  that  is  towards  original,  vital, 
fruitful,  modern  art,  the  faithful  representation  of  one’s  self  and  one’s 
milieu. 

Whether  the  full  meed  of  praise  for  this  growing  love  of  the 
common  human  nature  about  us  is  due  to  Mr.  Howells,  to  whose 
wide  and  serene  vision  as  a  critic  we  owe  so  much,  or  whether  he  has 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


203 


influenced  his  contemporaries  chiefly  by  his  being,  like  them, 
pliant  to  the  tendencies  and  conditions  of  the  epoch,  we  will  not 
here  and  now  try  to  decide.  It  is  however  certain  that  youthful 
writers  less  and  less  attempt  to  soar  on  artificial  wings,  and  find  their 
best  power  in  keeping  close  to  the  life  about  them  with  its  elementary 
joy  and  pathos,  its  human  significance,  its  touches  of  common  things. 
It  is  to  be  doubted  however  whether  women  writers  will  ever  be 
called  realists  in  the  sharply  defined  sense  of  the  term.  They  may 
be  modern,  they  may  be  local,  they  may  be  naturalistic;  but  led  by 
the  essential  need  of  being  womanly,  they  are  optimistic,  and  sombre 
and  inflexible  realists  they  are  not  likely  to  become. 

And,  Mrs.  Margaret  Deland  might  say,  let  realism  utter  its  final 
word,  yet  the  things  which  are  truest  and  most  actual  in  existence 
are  the  intuitions  which  come  to  us  from  afar  and  take  us  back  to 
the  cause  of  phenomena  as  a  sunbeam  leads  us  to  the  sun.  In 
Mrs.  Deland’s  books  we  note  two  distinct  features  both  essential  and 
both  always  present,  the  first  the  pretty  and  graceful  play  of  comedy 
which  finds  its  motive  in  the  love-affairs  of  people  past  their  youth, 
and  second,  the  quickening  into  higher  life  of  moral  and  spiritual 
forces  which  makes  of  average  men  and  women,  martyrs,  heroes  and 
saints. 

Even  Miss  Sarah  Orne  Jewett  and  Miss  Mary  E.  Wilkins,  in  whose 
work  nature  seems  often  to  have  taken  the  pen  from  the  author’s 
hand  to  tell  its  own  story,  obtain  not  only  their  large  and  complete, 
but  their  carefully  detailed  and  beautifully  balanced  effects  by  careful 
selection  and  choice.  It  might  be  pleasant  if  we  had  space  to  note 
fully  the  resemblances  and  contrasts  between  these  two  writers  who, 
starting  with  the  same  subject  and  the  same  point  of  view,  yet 
actually  display  such  different  methods  of  attaining  their  end.  Miss 
Jewett  surpassing  in  charm,  in  artistic  characterization,  in  the  power 
of  pressing  gently  and  surely  into  the  heart,  drawing  out  the  whole 
man  or  woman  she  describes,  and  without  any  particular  story  giv¬ 
ing  us  the  deep  meaning  of  a  whole  life’s  history;  Miss  Wilkins  always 
admirably  equipped  with  a  story  and  with  the  sure  knowledge  of 
how  to  tell  that  story,  seeming  to  disregard  mere  accessories  and  to 
seize  only  the  vital  and  essential;  lingering  on  no  felicities  of  descrip¬ 
tion,  ignoring  the  picturesque,  yet  missing  no  effect  which  gives 


204 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


shape  and  reality  to  the  picture,  which  clearly  cut  and  luminous  pre¬ 
sented  to  every  faculty  of  the  reader.  Admirable  and  vivid  too  is  the 
work  of  Octave  Thanet  who  always,  so  far  resembling  Miss  Wilkins, 
finds  the  shortest  road  to  a  good  story  by  instinct,  never  loses  her  way 
and  goes  through  difficult  places  with  marvelous  ease.  She  is  one  of 
a  group  of  magazinists  who  find  ample  room  in  the  shortest  of 
sketches  to  show  dramatic  phases  of  life  in  the  South  and  West. 
It  would  be  no  easy  matter  to  round  off  and  complete  the  list  of 
clever  writers  who  offer  from  month  to  month  and  from  year  to  year 
work  excellent  in  motive  and  striking  in  execution.  Yet  we  must  find 
space  to  mention  the  author  of  “Jerry,”  Maria  Louise  Pool,  Mary 
Hallock  Foote,  Maud  Howe  Elliott,  Amanda  M.  Douglas,  G.  M. 
McClelland,  Kate  Gannett  Wells,  Clara  Louise  Burnham,  Kate 
Douglas  Wiggin,  with  her  delightful  gift  of  fun  and  wit,  and  Mrs. 
Lydia  Hoyt  Farmer,  the  author  of  valuable  works  on  many  different 
subjects,  and  one  of  whose  novels,  “  A  Knight  of  Faith,  called  out 
a  generous  tribute  of  praise  from  Mr.  Gladstone,  from  whom  she 
received  an  autograph  letter,  and  Am61ie  Rives  Chanler,  who  set 
out  in  a  precocious  career  with  an  exuberance  of  talent, 

Novels  and  stories,  being  as  they  are,  beyond  any  other  form  of 
literature  “a  criticism  of  life,”  novelists  and  story- writers  must  remain 
a  permanent  and  even  a  growing  force  as  long  as  society  lasts. 
Certain  typical  forms  of  fiction  belong  to  each  decade:  the  spread  of 
scientific  knowledge;  new  social  theories;  the  increase  of  wealth  and 
luxury;  cesthetic  and  artistic  revivals;  all  these  influences  by  turn 
play  their  part  and  pass.  It  is  in  the  elementary  facts  of  life,  in  the 
history  of  men  and  women,  of  the  family,  that  the  artist  finds  the  open 
and  at  the  same  time  the  everlasting  secret  of  art. 


Miss  Susan  E.  Dickinson. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


WOMEN  JOURNALISTS  IN  AMERICA. 


BY  SUSAN  E.  DICKINSON.* 


HE  work  of  American  women  in  journalism  began  very  nearly  at 


I  the  same  time  that  American  journalism  itself  had  birth.  For 
the  first  newspaper  published  in  the  Colonies  was  the  Massachusetts 
Gazette  and  News-Letter ,  and  after  the  death  of  its  editor,  his  widow, 
Margaret  Craper,  edited  it  in  spirited  manner  and  with  great  success 
for  many  years.  It  was  the  only  paper  published  in  Boston  that  did 
not  suspend  publication  when  Boston  was  besieged  by  the  British. 
If  other  women  engaged  in  newspaper  work  during  the  early  twilight 
time  as  it  may  be  called,  before  sunrising,  of  the  American  press, 
they  were  content  to  let  the  results  appear  anonymously.  But  there 
were  probably  few  or  none  of  these,  because  other  fields  of  literary 
labor  offered  better  rewards,  as  the  names  of  Eliza  Leslie,  Catherine 
M.  Sedgwick,  and  their  compeers  will  show. 

In  1827  Mrs.  Lydia  Maria  Child  entered  upon  her  long  and  suc¬ 
cessful  career  as  editor,  magazinist,  and  author,  by  establishing  in 
Boston  the  Juvenile  Miscellany ,  the  earliest  children’s  magazine  in 
America,  if  not  in  the  world.  During  the  eight  years  in  which  she 
conducted  this  periodical,  some  of  the  best-known  writers  of  a  rather 
late  time  made  their  debut  in  it.  In  1841  Mrs.  Child  transferred  her 
work  to  the  newspaper  field  by  taking  entire  editorial  charge  of  the 
weekly  American  Anti-Slavery  Standard,  published  in  New  York. 
When,  late  in  the  next  year,  her  husband’s  restored  health  enabled  him 
to  become  her  coadjutor  on  that  paper  she  began  the  brilliant  series  of 
“  Letters  from  New  York  ”  to  the  Boston  Courier,  which  have  never 
been  surpassed  by  any  later  comer  into  the  rich  field  of  newspaper 


♦Associate  Editor  Scranton  Truth. 


206 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


correspondence.  After  1846  her  vigorous  and  thoughtful  mind  was 
used  to  enrich  permanent  American  literature. 

She  was  not  the  only  woman  who  in  the  thirties  and  earlier  forties 
of  the  century  was  doing  good  and  noble  work  upon  the  press.  Mrs. 
Ann  S.  Stephens,  who  also  edited  Peterson' s  Magazine  through  all 
that  time  and  longer,  from  1837  to  1867  was  editorial  contributor  to 
the  New  York  Express ,  and  its  literary  editor  until  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
F.  Ellet  succeeded  her  in  1857.  Miss  Cornelia  Wells  Walter  was 
proving  in  Boston,  on  the  Transcript ,  that  no  man  could  more  suc¬ 
cessfully  conduct  a  great  journal.  Margaret  Fuller  was  adding  to  her 
laurels  gained  on  the  scholarly  Dial  by  creating  for  Horace  Greeley 
the  literary  and  critical  department  of  the  newly-established  New 
York  Tribune,  and  placing  it  at  high-water  mark.  ‘  ‘  Grace  Green¬ 
wood,”  then  Miss  Sarah  J.  Clarke,  afterwards  Mrs.  Lippincott,  came 
like  young  Lochinvar  out  of  what  was  then  the  West,  and  was  wel¬ 
comed  by  a  public  which  already  knew  Mrs.  Child  as  a  worthy  co¬ 
worker  in  the  line  of  vigorous,  thoughtful,  original  correspondence, 
in  which  she  has  held  her  own  ever  since.  Mrs.  Jane  G.  Swisshelm 
was  making,  in  Pittsburgh,  of  first  the  Spirit  of  Liberty  and  then  the 
Saturday  Visitor,  papers,  that  rivalled  in  influence  the  best  Eastern 
ones,  with  Mrs.  Frances  D.  Gage  as  co-laborer.  Mrs.  C.  I.  H. 
Nichols  was  successfully  editing  a  political  paper,  the  Windham 
County  Democrat,  in  Vermont.  These  were  the  pioneers;  the 
youngest  two  of  whom,  Miss  Walter — now  Mrs.  Richards,  and 
“  Grace  Greenwood,”  we  are  grateful  to  have  still  with  us. 

So  also  are  not  a  few  of  those  who  followed  them,  between  1848 
and  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  into  the  ranks  of  journalism. 
‘‘Gail  Hamilton,”  as  editorial  contributor  to  the  Natiojial  Era; 
Paulina  Wright  Davis,  Caroline  H.  Doll,  as  editors;  ‘‘Jennie  June  ” 
— Mrs.  Croly,  as  correspondent  and  the  inventor  of  the  syndicate  sys¬ 
tem  which  has  since  grown  to  such  dimensions,  are  the  best  known  of 
these;  and  the  last-named  continues  her  editorial  work  to-day,  having 
been  crowned  with  honors  through  her  whole  career. 

The  year  of  1861-5,  which  brought  women  to  the  front  in  the 
Sanitary  Commission  work  and  care  for  the  soldiers  in  field  and 
hospital,  and  opened  a  new  era  in  the  way  in  which  women  thence¬ 
forth  took  their  places  in  almost  every  department  of  the  world's 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


207 


work,  leading  on  its  advance  in  many  lines  of  spiritual  and  practical 
progress,  brought  among  other  things  many  new  women  workers 
into  newspaper  labors.  The  New  York  Tribune  on  which  Margaret 
Fuller  had  done  such  noble  work  in  its  early  days  welcomed  them  to 
its  editorial  columns  as  well  as  to  its  departments  of  literature  and 
correspondence.  So  did  the  New  York  Independent ,  the  St.  Louis 
Republican  and  the  Philadelphia  Press.  And  the  daily  papers  of  all 
the  great  Eastern  seaboard  cities,  and  of  those  upon  the  lakes  and  in 
the  rapidly  growing  Northwest,  made  haste  to  follow  in  the  same 
line.  Of  those  who  then  won  distinguished  rank  in  journalism  Mary 
Clemmer  Hudson,  the  most  famous  of  women  Washington  corre¬ 
spondents,  whom  no  masculine  rival  or  co-worker  exceeded  in 
breadth  and  power  of  handling  great  public  questions  and  describing 
great  events,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Burnham  Fiske,  have  ‘  ‘  gone  over  to 
the  majority.”  So  also  has  Middie  Morgan,  unique  in  her  person¬ 
ality,  and  also  for  year  after  year  in  her  work,  although  recently  she 
has  had  two  or  three  successors.  So  also  has  Anna  Brewster  who 
made  Rome  and  southern  Italy  familiar  and  beloved  of  thousands  of 
American  readers.  So  likewise  has  Mary  L.  Booth,  the  brilliant  and 
thoroughly  accomplished  editor  for  more  than  twenty  years,  from  its 
first  number,  of  Harper' s  Bazar ,  the  leader  in  what  has  grown  to  be 
almost  an  army  of  papers  and  ‘  ‘  departments  ’  ’  of  papers  for  the 
home,  for  the  cultivating  and  enriching  of  every  department  of 
domestic  life. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  Bazar ,  the  Revolution  had  birth 
in  New  York,  followed  immediately  by  the  Woman's  Journal  in 
Boston;  both  of  these  being  dedicated  to  the  cause  of  woman 
suffrage  and  to  that  of  woman’s  advancement,  her  higher  education, 
the  opening  to  her  5f  all  avenues  of  employment  into  which  she 
elected  to  go,  and  of  just  and  equal  compensation  therein,  and  of  the 
blotting  out  of  all  laws  from  the  statute  books  that  work  injustice  to 
wives  and  mothers,  during  the  husband’s  life  or  at  his  death.  Both 
did  work  which  resulted  in  making  paths  easy  and  pleasant  for  later 
workers  to  follow,  where  those  who  made  the  paths  had  no  such 
easy  time.  The  newspaper  women  of  to-day,  women  in  the  liberal 
professions,  the  young  women  and  girls  rejoicing  in  wide  open 
collegiate  and  university  doors,  and  in  the  sight  of  others  preparing 


208 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


to  follow;  the  wives  whose  earnings  can  no  longer  be  legally- 
snatched  from  them  and  their  little  ones  by  heads  of  the  family  who 
chose  to  take  and  dissipate  them,  all  of  these  may  well  remember 
gratefully  the  women  who  opened  the  way  for  them.  And  of  these 
were  the  editors  of  the  Revolution ,  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  and 
Susan  B.  Anthony,  and  those  who  gave  their  money  to  support  its 
publication  while  the  public  was  still  deriding  it  or  fighting  it — Anna 
Dickinson,  who  also  did  such  magnificent  work  for  her  sex  upon  the 
lyceum  platform,  and  George  Francis  Train,  who  always  believed  in 
a  fair  field  and  full  opportunity  for  women.  And  with  these  all 
women  should  honor  the  name  of  the  chief  editor  of  the  Woman’s 
Journal ,  Lucy  Stone — like  Mrs.  Stanton  and  Miss  Anthony,  one  of 
those  who  bore  the  brunt  of  public  ridicule  and  opposition  in  the 
early  battle  for  woman’s  right  to  equal  opportunities  of  education 
and  of  paying  work.  And  all  of  whom  in  waging  that  battle  did 
honor  by  their  own  achievements  to  woman’s  intellect  and  heart. 

The  Woman’s  Journal  still  carries  on  its  work.  And  it  has  now, 
and  has  had  for  years,  a  number  of  coadjutors,  of  which  the  Woman’s 
Tribune ,  published  by  Mrs.  Colby  in  Washington,  D.  C. ,  and  in 
Beatrice,  Neb.,  is  best  known  to  readers  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
The  Working  Woman ,  also  published  in  Washington,  by  Mrs. 
Charlotte  Smith,  for  many  years  one  of  the  best  known  newspaper 
editors  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  holds  a  position  of  its  own,  as  indi¬ 
cated  by  its  title,  with  very  valuable  special  features.  One  of  these 
is  the  publication,  monthly,  of  the  patents  taken  out  for  new  inven¬ 
tions  by  women.  There  are  especially  in  various  sections  of  our 
great  West  and  Southwest  too  many  of  this  distinctive  class  of  pap¬ 
ers,  holding  the  ballot  to  be  the  key  which  alone  can  set  wide  open 
the  doors  of  the  temple  of  justice;  to  make  it  possible  to  name  them 
all.  What  is  to  be  noted  is  that  they  have  outlived  the  days  both  of 
ridicule  and  of  denunciation,  and  reached  those  of  respectful  atten¬ 
tion. 

Centennial  year — 1876 — which  marked  a  new  era  of  advancement 
in  many  directions  for  the  nation,  dating  from  the  great  exposition 
at  Philadelphia,  broadened,  among  other  things,  the  newspaper  field 
for  woman.  The  New  Century ,  the  woman’s  paper  published  on 
the  exposition  grounds  that  year,  had  much  to  do  with  this.  And 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


209 


many  women  began  their  journalistic  work  as  correspondents  there 
for  papers  scattered  all  over  the  country,  giving  graphic  accounts  of 
what  was  to  be  seen  at  the  great  fair  for  readers  who  could  not  go 
thither.  To-day  women  form  the  majority  of  foreign  correspondents. 
Their  letters  from  every  corner  almost  of  Europe  and  many  of  Asia, 
and  often  from  South  American  countries,  from  Mexico,  and  from 
our  own  western  “frontier”  towns,  have  become  too  familiar  to  the 
reading  public  to  excite  surprise  or  comment  that  it  is  a  woman  who 
is  taking  adventurous  or  perilous  journeys  and  recording  events  and 
scenery. 

The  great  “Syndicates”  which  have  come  into  being,  the  natural 
outgrowth  of  the  idea  first  thought  of  and  carried  out  by  Mrs.  Croly, 
number  probably  as  many  women  as  men  on  their  lists  of  workers. 
And  there  is  nothing  in  the  wide  range  of  special  topics,  and  of  fresh, 
original  subjects  or  descriptions,  in  which  they  have  not  made  their 
mark  and  high  reputation. 

Next  to  the  suffrage  papers,  those  published  in  the  interests  of  the 
temperance  cause  have  enlisted  the  aid  of  numbers  of  cultivated 
women  who  might  otherwise  never  have  been  attracted  to  newspaper 
labor.  The  names  of  the  most  widely  known  leaders  in  the  Christian 
Temperance  Union  will  be  recalled  at  once:  Frances  E.  Willard 
and  her  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Mary  Willard,  Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse, 
and  the  two  so  recently  gone  from  work  to  reward,  Julia  Ames  and 
Mary  Allen  West.  But  there  are  also  in  nearly  every  state  and  terri¬ 
tory  of  the  Union  “State  Press  Superintendents”  and  their  assist¬ 
ants  in  districts  who  are  accomplishing  much  in  newspaper  columns 
and  departments. 

It  is  sometimes  said  in  print,  even  by  men  who  ought  to  know 
better  if  they  do  not,  that  the  number  of  associate  editors  on  vigorous 
daily  papers,  women  who  deal  in  the  editorial  columns  with  all  the 
great  political  and  social  questions  of  the  day,  is  too  few  to  be  worth 
noting- — which  simply  is  a  serious  mistake.  If  it  were  the  fashion 
for  all  daily  and  weekly  papers  to  print  the  names  of  their  editors 
and  associate  editors  at  the  head  of  their  columns,  that  idea  would 
very  speedily  vanish  out  of  view.  This  list  does  not  include  either 
those  who  are  simply  editors  of  “special”  departments.  That  is 
entirely  different  work.  In  “department”  work,  as  editors  of 


210 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


weekly  editions,  or  as  reporters,  there  is  not  a  large  daily  paper  in 
New  York  that  has  not  at  least  four  or  five  women  workers.  And 
the  same  holds  true  of  Boston,  Chicago,  and  other  large  cities;  and 
in  constantly  increasing  numbers  in  smaller  cities  and  growing  bor¬ 
oughs.  As  for  the  number  of  country  papers  in  which  a  goodly 
share  of  the  editing  is  done  by  women  of  the  proprietor’s  family,  or 
by  bright  girls  graduated  from  high  schools  and  setting  type  in  the 
offices,  this  is  continually  increasing.  And  the  important  thing 
noticeable  is  that  while  they  neglect  no  local  news,  nor  the  political 
nor  agricultural  columns,  they  are  steadfastly  increasing  the  worth  of 
the  “home  sheet”  for  all  members  of  the  home,  making  it  more 
valuable  alike  for  the  instruction  and  the  pleasure  of  the  family  circle. 

Nothing  makes  so  evident  the  fact  that  journalism  in  all  its 
branches  grows  increasingly  attractive  to  thoughtful  and  to  en¬ 
terprising  women,  as  the  rapid  growth  within  a  decade  of  Women’s 
Press  Associations.  The  first  was  formed  in  Washington  in  1882, 
growing  out  of  an  experimental  organization  by  a  few  correspondents 
residing  there — the  “Ladies’  Press  Club,”  formed  the  year  before. 
This  parent  association  carries  the  title  of  the  Woman’s  National 
Press  Association  and  has  grown  from  a  mere  nucleus  of  membership 
into  a  large  one,  and  into  an  exceedingly  prosperous  condition.  In 
May,  1885,  an  association  which  at  first  took  the  same  title  as  the 
Washington  one,  was  formed  in  New  Orleans;  but  it  soon  admitted 
foreign  associate  members  and  changed  its  name  to  the  International. 
It  had  a  goodly  number  of  members  from  the  beginning,  Louisiana 
being  the  leader  in  the  South  in  becoming  accustomed  to  the  respon¬ 
sible  work  of  women  in  journalism — the  Times- Democrat  and  the 
Picayune  being  both  for  many  years  chiefly  owned  and  controlled  by 
women;  as  are  also  several  papers  of  importance  and  great  influence 
in  other  towns. 

In  July  of  the  same  year,  1885,  the  Western  Association  of  Writers 
was  formed,  including  both  men  and  women  workers  in  the  central 
Mississippi  and  Missouri  valleys.  And  November  of  that  year  saw 
also  the  organization  of  the  New  England  Woman’s  Press  Associa¬ 
tion,  commencing  with  almost  a  hundred  members.  Not  long  after 
came  the  Illinois  Woman’s  Press  Association,  probably  with  not  much 
less  membership;  and  Ohio  followed  with  another  as  large,  divided 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


211 


into  two  branches,  the  Cincinnati  and  Cleveland  ones.  Michigan 
came  next;  and  Iowa,  Minnesota  and  others  have  followed.  The  most 
surprising  and  rapid  growth  of  all  is  that  of  the  Woman’s  Pacific 
Coast  Press  Association,  formed  in  1890,  including  newspaperwomen 
of  California,  Washington,  Oregon  and  Utah,  possibly  with  scattered 
members  in  the  Territories.  For  numbers,  energy,  resolute  pro¬ 
gress  and  faithfulness  to  high  ideals  of  newspaper  work,  it  takes  its 
place  behind  no  association  whatever  of  workers  of  either  sex  in  the 
journalistic  profession.  In  the  South,  following  Louisiana,  Georgia 
has  its  Women’s  Press  Association;  and  in  Texas,  where  there  are  also 
a  goodly  number  of  bright  women  newspaper  workers,  they  are  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  same  association  with  their  professional  brethren  of  the 
State. 

In  November  of  1891  a  meeting  was  held  in  Boston  to  form  a 
Federation  of  Women’s  Press  Clubs,  and  a  permanent  organization 
was  effected;  with  Mrs.  Sallie  Joy  White,  of  Boston,  as  president;  Mrs. 
Martha  D.  Lincoln,  of  Washington  City,  D.  C.,  as  vice-president; 
Mrs.  E.  G.  C.  Edholm,  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  recording  secretary; 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Merritt  Gosse,  of  Boston,  as  corresponding  secretary; 
Miss  Fannie  FI.  Rastall,  of  Illinois,  as  treasurer,  and  Mrs.  Belva  H. 
Lockwood,  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  as  auditor.  At  this  meeting  a 
message  was  received  from  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  urging  co-operation 
of  press  women  for  and  at  the  Columbian  Exposition;  reports  were 
read  from  State  associations  and  aid  for  the  Queen  Isabella  Associa¬ 
tion  also  urged  and  determined  on. 

That  the  Columbian  Exposition  will  be  the  means  of  adding  to  the 
numbers  and  influence  of  newspaper  women  in  yet  larger  measure 
than  did  the  Centennial  Exposition  of  1876,  and  in  uniting  them  in 
closer  bonds  of  fellowship  and  stimulating  their  loyalty  to  high  ideals 
for  the  sake  of  their  chosen  profession  and  their  beloved  land,  is  a 
foregone  conclusion. 


WOMEN  IN  EDUCATION  AND 
SCIENCE. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


WOMEN  IN  EDUCATION  AND  SCIENCE. 

EDITORIAL. 

“Woman’s  empire,  holier,  more  refined, 

Moulds,  moves  and  sways  the  fallen  yet  God-breathed  mind, 

Lifting  the  earth-crushed  heart  to  hope  and  heaven.” 

Hale. 

“All  the  reasonings  of  men  are  not  worth  one  sentiment  of  women.” 

Voltaire. 

IN  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the  year  1888- 
1889,  it  is  stated,  regarding  teachers  and  pupils  in  Normal 
Public  Schools,  of  the  United  States:  Total  number  of  schools  re¬ 
porting  136;  women  teachers  in  the  same,  932;  female  pupils, 
1 7>883;  of  these  14,633  were  pupils  in  science  and  art  of  teaching,  as 
well  as  academic  and  professional.  Number  of  Private  Normal 
Schools  reporting,  46;  number  of  women  teachers,  158;  whole 
number  of  female  pupils  in  academic  and  professional  department, 
1,482;  number  of  female  pupils  in  science  and  art  of  teaching, 
1,716. 

The  annual  statement  of  the  Hon.  W.  T.  Harris,  United  States 
Commissioner  of  Education,  for  the  year  1890-1891,  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  shows  that  the  number  of  pupils  enrolled  in  the  com¬ 
mon  schools  of  this  country  was,  13,203,170,  and  the  average  daily 
attendence,  8,404,228.  There  were  363,922  teachers,  122,551 
being  males  and  241,371  being  females,  and  the  total  expenditure 
for  the  support  of  the  public  schools,  was  $148,173,4 87.  The  pro¬ 
gress  of  education  among  the  colored  people,  chiefly  those  residing 
in  the  former  slave  States  of  the  Union,  is  presented  in  the  following 
statistics:  Number  of  pupils,  1,309,251;  teachers,  male,  13,576; 
female,  10,497. 


2l6 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


In  the  summary  of  statistics  in  the  Commissioner’s  report  for  1888- 
1889,  of  Endowed  Academies,  Seminaries  and  other  private  Second¬ 
ary  Schools  for  girls,  the  number  of  schools  in  the  United 
States  was  290;  number  of  women  teachers,  2,348;  total  number  of 
students,  26,497.  In  the  private  schools  for  both  sexes,  the  number 
in  the  United  States  was  737;  number  of  women  teachers,  2,188; 
number  of  girl  pupils,  42,923. 

Summary  of  statistics  of  institutions  for  the  higher  instruction  of 
women:  Total  number  of  schools  and  colleges,  198;  number  of 
■women  teachers,  1,946;  total  number  of  students,  26,945. 

A  chair  of  journalism  has  been  established  in  Rutger’s  Woman’s 
College,  New  York.  Mrs.  J.  C.  Croly  has  consented  to  be  the  first 
instructor  in  that  branch. 

The  first  prize  for  the  best  entrance  examination  to  Chicago  Uni¬ 
versity  during  December,  was  taken  by  a  young  colored  woman;  a 
triumph  for  co-education  and  for  a  rising  race. 

The  total  number  graduated  from  the  Chatauqua  Literary  and 
Scientific  Circle  aggregates  29,030,  of  which  number,  it  is  safe  to  es¬ 
timate  that  more  than  one-half  were  women. 

Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  in  his  valuable  work  on  “  Southern  Women  in 
the  Recent  Educational  Movement,”  thus  sums  up  the  statistics 
regarding  the  education  of  Southern  women: 

‘‘According  to  late  authority  there  are  now  in  fifteen  Southern 
states  some  150  schools  for  the  superior  instruction  of  women,  of 
which  fifty  for  the  white  race  are  co-educational.  Nearly  all  the  su¬ 
perior  schools  ior  the  colored  race  are  co-educational.  The  State 
universities  of  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Texas,  and  Kentucky  admit 
women.  Tulane  University,  Louisiana;  Rutherford  College,  North 
Carolina;  U.  S.  Grant  University,  Maryville;  Carson,  Newman  and 
other  colleges  in  Tennessee;  Fort  Worth,  Southwestern  and  Baylor 
universities,  Texas;  and  Bethany  College,  West  Virginia,  are  co-edu¬ 
cational.  Of  this  number  forty-four  are  reported  as  nonsectarian, 
the  remainder  divided  among  ten  religious  denominations.  Eight 
thousand  young  women  are  reported  in  the  collegiate  department  of 
these  institutions,  besides  large  numbers  now  attending  schools  of 
similar  grades  in  Northern  states.  Nearly  100  schools  admitting 
women  in  the  South  are  authorized  by  law  to  confer  degrees.  One 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


217 


hundred  and  twenty-seven  of  these  schools  report  an  income  of 
$335,000.  It  is  reported  that  in  forty-one  public  schools  giving 
secondary  instruction  to  girls,  in  fourteen  Southern  states  and  the 
District  of  Columbia,  there  were  in  1 886-’ 87,  4,800  female  students, 
with  300  preparing  for  college.  In  eighty-two  schools  classed  as 
partly  public,  there  were  4,300  girls  receiving  secondary  instruction, 
of  whom  220  were  preparing  for  college.  In  288  private  schools, 
14,500  girls  were  receiving  secondary  instruction,  of  whom  100  were 
preparing  for  college.  Many  of  the  best  schools  for  girls  in  the 
South  are  of  a  semi-private  character,  in  charge  of  superior  teachers, 
with  a  limited  number  of  pupils,  publishing  no  catalogue,  and  mak¬ 
ing  no  special  effort  at  public  report.  These  schools  represent  what 
is  left  of  the  old-time  system  of  instruction  by  tutors  in  the  wealthy 
families  of  the  South,  and  mark  a  decided  improvement  in  that  type 
of  instruction.  Up  to  1865  there  was  no  co-educational  State  univer¬ 
sity  in  the  South.  The  intermittent  and  feeble  free  schools  of  the 
open  country  offered  small  attraction  even  for  the  daughters  of  the 
poorer  classes.  The  remarkable  development  of  the  American  com¬ 
mon  school  through  the  sixteen  Southern  states,  during  the  twenty 
years  from  1870  to  1890,  must  be  ascribed  very  largely  to  the  direct 
and  indirect  influence  of  Southern  women.” 

Regarding  the  persistency  of  the  Southern  women  to  secure  the 
education  of  their  children,  the  following  incident  is  related  by  Mr. 
Mayo: 

‘  ‘  One  day  the  superintendent  of  schools  of  Atlanta  was  sitting  in 
his  office  when  that  good-natured  functionary  was  suddenly  called  to 
face  a  cyclone  in  the  shape  of  a  breezy,  bouncing  woman,  who  burst 
upon  him  with  the  leading  question,  ‘  When  can  my  Jane  get  into 
school  ?  ’  With  as  much  calmness  as  possible  in  this  high  wind  of 
indignation  the  good  ‘  Major  ’  pointed  to  a  long  list  of  names  hang¬ 
ing  on  the  wall,  and  said,  1  There’s  Jane,  and  as  soon  as  we  get  to 
her  she  shall  have  a  seat;  but  you  see  that  there  are  hundreds  waiting 
outside,  while  the  city  is  building  school-houses  every  year.  ‘Well,’ 
stormed  the  good  lady,  ‘  I  think  such  a  woman  as  I  have  rights  in 
these  schools.  Didn’t  I  make  my  husband  move  to  Atlanta,  invest 
$10,000  in  his  business,  and  both  of  us  are  working  like  dogs  to  ed¬ 
ucate  the  children,  and  now  Jane  can’t  get  in.  ‘Well,  well,  good 


2  I  8 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


woman,  we’ll  take  Jane’s  case  into  consideration,  and  she  shall  have 
a  seat  at  the  beginning  of  next  term,’  and  the  cyclone  was  deflected 
without  further  peril,  to  the  pavement.  ‘That  woman,’  said  the 
Major,  ‘  has  ten  children.  Eight  of  them  are  already  disposed  of, 
and  Jane  came  of  school  age  only  a  week  ago.’  That  is  the  kind  of 
family  that  is  storming  the  gates  of  every  Southern  city  and  town 
that  has  established  a  successful  system  of  common  schools.” 

“  The  superior  young  women  of  the  South  are  not  sitting  in  sack¬ 
cloth  and  ashes,  pondering  or  pouting  over  any  dismal  past.” 

They  are  crowding  every  open  door  for  advancement  in  education, 
art,  and  literature. 

In  the  article  in  “  Woman's  Work  in  America,”  on  ‘‘Education 
of  Women  in  the  Eastern  States,”  by  Mary  F.  Eastman,  comment¬ 
ing  upon  .the  marvellous  change  in  woman’s  opportunities,  now 
within  her  reach,  in  comparison  with  the  meagre  advantages  of  the 
past,  the  writer  gives  this  very  telling  incident: 

“  Looking  back  from  the  vantage  ground  of  less  than  a  century, 
most  women  of  now-a-days  would  echo  the  sentiment  of  the  small 
boy,  one  of  four  brothers,  who  heard  a  visitor  say  to  his  mother: 
‘What  a  pity  one  of  your  boys  had  not  been  a  girl!’  Dropping 
his  game  to  take  in  the  full  significance  of  her  words,  he  called  out: 
‘  I’d  like  to  know  who’d  ’a  benn’er;  I  wouldn’t  ’a  benn’er;  Ed 
wouldn’t  ’a  benn’er;  Joe  wouldn’t  ’a  benn’er;  and  I’d  like  to  know 
who’d  ’a  benn’er!  ’  ” 


KINDERGARTENS. 

EDITORIAL. 

THE  name  of  Mrs.  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin  is  indissolubly  con¬ 
nected  with  this  important  branch  of  education,  on  account  of 
her  charming  stories  relating  to  the  subject,  notably  the  pathetic 
tale  in  “  The  Story  of  Patsy,”  and  also  for  her  establishment  of  the 
kindergarten  system  in  California. 

Regarding  the  kindergarten  in  America  the  following  is  quoted 
from  the  Century  Magazine: 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


219 


“Of  the  sixteen  American  cities  with  a  population  of  over 
200,000  in  1890,  only  four— -Philadelphia,  Boston,  Milwaukee  and 
St.  Louis-— have  incorporated  the  kindergarten  on  any  large  scale 
in  their  public  school  systems.  Four  more— New  York,  Chicago, 
Brooklyn  and  Buffalo — have  kindergarten  associations  organized  to 
introduce  the  new  method  as  a  part  of  free  education.  In  San  Fran¬ 
cisco  kindergartens  are  maintained  with  no  apparent  expectation  of 
uniting  them  to  the  free  school  system.  Only  Baltimore,  Cincinnati, 
Cleveland  and  Detroit,  among  the  seven  cities  left — the  other  three 
being  Pittsburgh,  Washington  and  New  Orleans, — are  returned  as 
having  charitable  or  religious  associations  supporting  kintergartens. 
In  1877-88,  forty-six  lesser  places  were  named  as  having  ‘one  or 
more  kindergartens,  mostly  experimental,’  connected  with  public 
schools.  The  entire  work  of  providing  a  special  education  for  chil¬ 
dren  from  three  to  six  years  of  age  is  still  in  this  stage  in  this  coun¬ 
try.  Contrast  this  with  France,  where  the  Ecoles  Maternelles,  begun 
by  Oberlin  in  1771,  and  given  new  life  in  1826  by  Mme.  Millet,  have 
substantially  adopted  the  Froebelian  principle  and  practice,  and  had 
in  1887-88  an  attendance  of  741,  224  between  the  ages  of  three  and 
six,  in  a  population  only  two-thirds  of  that  of  the  United  States,  and 
having  a  far  smaller  proportion  of  young  children. 

“Compared,  however,  with  like  movements  to  secure  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  a  class,  or  the  adoption  of  a  new  system  of  teaching,  the  kinder¬ 
garten  movement  may  fairly  be  considered  unrivalled  in  the  history 
of  national  education.  ‘  The  good  Lord  could  not  be  everywhere, 
therefore  he  made  mothers,’  said  the  Jewish  rabbi,  familiar  with  that 
type  of  Jewish  motherhood  which  in  its  supreme  manifestation  at 
Nazareth  has  transfigured  the  office,  estimate,  and  influence  of 
womanhood  throughout  the  civilized  world. 

‘  ‘  The  cause  of  these  schools,  rounding  out  the  work  and  supple¬ 
menting  the  responsibility  of  mothers,  rich  or  poor,  has  appealed  to 
the  maternal  instinct  of  women  wherever  it  has  been  presented.  The 
movement  has  been  essentially  theirs.  They  have  led  it,  supported 
its  schools,  officered  its  associations,  and  urged  its  agitation. 

“  The  same  work  remains  to  be  done  throughout  the  land.  There 
is  not  a  city,  a  village,  or  a  hamlet  which  will  not  be  the  better  for  a 
kindergarten  association. 


2  20 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


“  Experience  has  amply  proved  that  these  schools  will  never  be  in¬ 
troduced  or  established  save  by  self-sacrificing  pressure.  Difficulties 
have  vanished.  Expenses  have  been  reduced.  There  is  needed 
only  the  personal  effort  indispensable  for  general  success  and 
universal  adoption.” 

From  the  Minneapolis  Tribune  is  taken  the  following: 

“To  save  the  children  of  the  submerged  classes,  to  supplement 
the  work  of  the  school  by  personal  visits  to  their  homes,  is  the  mis¬ 
sion  of  the  charity  kindergarten.  As  a  philanthropic  and  educational 
agency,  it  is  superior  to  all  others.  To  attempt  to  reform  older 
people  is  to  begin  at  the  wrong  end  of  the  ladder;  the  great  oppor¬ 
tunity  lies  with  the  children  in  those  early  years  when  heart  and 
mind  are  pliable  and  easily  bent  in  right  directions.  The  kinder¬ 
garten  doubles  the  school  period.  The  moral  influence  of  kinder¬ 
garten  training  on  the  neglected  children  of  our  towns  and  cities  is 
evidenced  by  the  report  from  San  Francisco,  that  of  the  9,000 
children  from  the  “other  half,”  who  have  gone  through  the  free 
kindergartens  of  the  Golden  Gate  Association  in  the  last  twelve 
years,  only  one  has  ever  been  arrested  for  crime.  The  founders  and 
promoters  of  kindergartens  have  been  mostly  women.  After  the 
death  of  Froebel,  in  1852,  his  work  was  taken  up  by  the  Baroness 
Marienholtz-Bulow,  who  devoted  to  it  her  wealth,  zeal  and  superior 
intelligence.  In  Germany  the  Dowager-Empress  Victoria,  has  long 
been  a  zealous  friend  of  kindergartens.  The  pioneers  of  the  move¬ 
ment  in  this  country  were  the  two  sisters,  Elizabeth  Peabody  and 
Mrs.  Horace  Mann. 

“  In  1878,  Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw  founded  a  system  of  free  kinder¬ 
gartens  in  Boston,  supported  by  herself,.  Five  years  later  they  were 
transferred  to  the  free  school  system  of  that  city,  being  fourteen  in 
number.  Benevolent  ladies  in  St.  Louis,  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco 
and  other  large  cities  soon  engaged  in  this  work,  which  has  spread 
widely. 

“  In  1870  the  whole  United  States  had  only  five  free  Kinder¬ 
gartens.  There  are  now  over  3,000,  one-sixth  of  which  are  con¬ 
nected  with  the  public  schools.  There  are  also  118  kindergarten 
Associations.  But  as  yet  the  kindergarten  has  but  a  small  part  in  our 
public  school  system.  Less  than  one-fifth  of  one  per  cent,  of  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


22r 


children  who  are  receiving  elementary  instruction  in  our  free  schools, 
have  had  the  prior  advantage  of  kindergarten  training.  Born  in 
Switzerland,  a  republic,  the  free  kindergarten  has  proved  itself 
peculiarly  adapted  to  republican  institutions.  France  has  more 
children  in  kindergartens  than  all  other  countries  combined.  From 
the  growth  of  the  movement  among  us,  the  United  States  bids  fair 
to  rival  in  this  respect  her  sister  republic.” 

In  this  department  of  our  Souvenir,  Miss  Eliza  Hardy  Lord  con¬ 
tributes  an  admirable  article  upon  “Women  as  Teachers,”  and  Mrs. 
Kate  Gannett  Wells  writes  with  authoritative  knowledge  of  the  “Nor¬ 
mal  Schools  of  Massachusetts. 

Professor  Anne  Morgan  presents  the  higher  uses  of  ‘  ‘  Liberal  Edu¬ 
cation,”  and  Gail  Hamilton  sketches  with  her  usual  vigorous  strokes, 
“An  American  Queen.” 

Mrs.  Frances  Fisher  Wood  contributes  an  appreciative  portrait 
of  Maria  Mitchell,  which  is  admirably  supplemented  by  Miss  Helen 
Leah  Reed,  in  “  Women’s  Work  at  the  Harvard  Observatory.” 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


WOMEN  AS  TEACHERS. 

A  RECORD  OF  BEGINNINGS. 

BY  ELIZA  HARDY  LORD.* 

THE  work  of  the  woman  teacher  in  America  began  in  the  Dame 
School  of  the  far-away  colonial  days  where  she  taught  the  little 
children  gathered  about  her  to  read  from  the  New  England  Primer 
and  sometimes  to  recite  the  shorter  catechism. 

The  scanty  records  of  those  days  throw  very  little  light  upon  the 
subject  of  schools  or  teachers,  but  that  little  is  enough  to  show  small 
advance  for  the  century  and  a  half  between  the  time  when,  in  the 
town  of  Woburn,  Mass.,  1635,  “Joseph  Wright’s  wife  and  Allen 
Converse’s  wife  were  able  to  divide  between  them  £0,  10s,  od., 
for  the  year’s  work,”  and  the  year  1790,  when  in  the  thriving  town 
of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  three  or  four  schools  for  girls  were  established 
“to  learn  them  good  manners,  and  proper  decency  of  behavior.” 
In  addition  to  the  essentials  they  were  to  be  taught  “spelling  and 
reading  sufficient  to  read  the  Bible,  and  if  the  parents  desired  rt, 
needle-work  and  knitting.”  f 

Hedged  in  by  an  immense  tradition  womankind  had  seemed  con¬ 
demned  to  a  perpetual  childhood,  and  it  was  not  until  the  closing 
decades  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  we  had  become  a  nation, 
that  opportunities  for  the  education  of  girls  were  offered  beyond  the 
merest  rudiments.  Even  then  girls  of  more  than  nine  years  of  age 
were  not  allowed  to  attend  the  public  schools,  and  the  private  schools 

*Late  dean  of  the  Woman's  College  of  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

t“  Woman's  Work  in  America.”  Chapter  on  “Education  in  the  Eastern  States.”  To 
this  work  the  writer  is  indebted  for  facts  in  connection  with  the  schools  of  the  East  and  South, 


Miss  Eliza  Hardy  Lord. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


223 


offered  little  more,  though  the  teachers  were  often  women  ol  much 
refinement. 

For  this  barren  period  in  the  history  of  woman’s  education  let 
Mrs.  Abigail  Adams,  the  wife  of  President  John  Adams,  speak. 
Born  in  1744,  of  illustrious  descent  and  into  one  of  the  most  cul¬ 
tured  families  she  writes  in  her  old  age  when  past  three  score  and 
ten:  “  The  only  chance  for  much  intellectual  improvement  in  the 
female  sex  was  to  be  found  in  the  families  of  the  educated  class  and 
in  occasional  intercourse  with  the  learned  of  the  day.  Whatever  of 
useful  instruction  was  received  in  the  practical  conduct  of  life  came 
from  maternal  lips,  and  what  of  farther  mental  development, 
depended  more  upon  the  eagerness  with  which  the  casual  teachings 
of  daily  conversation  were  treasured  up,  than  upon  any  labor 
expended  purposely  to  promote  it.  Female  education  in  the  best 
families  went  no  farther  than  writing  and  arithmetic  and,  in  some  few 
rare  instances,  music  and  dancing.”* 

To  the  Moravians  of  Pennsylvania  belongs  the  honor  of  founding 
in  1749  the  first  private  institution  to  give  girls  better  advantages 
than  they  could  get  in  the  public  schools.  Its  methods  were  thor¬ 
ough  and  systematic  and  from  it  came  teachers  for  the  schools  of 
more  than  one  state  who  carried  its  painstaking  methods  into  their 
own  work.  The  success  of  this  experiment  led  to  the  founding  of 
the  Philadelphia  Female  Academy  which  held  commencement 
exercises  as  early  as  1794. 

The  cause  of  woman’s  education  did  not  lack  its  earnest  advocates 
among  whom  Rev.  William  Woodbridge  and  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson, 
of  New  England  and  Drs.  Morgan  and  Rush  of  Philadelphia,  were 
eminent.  It  was  due  to  such  men  as  these  that  the  closing  decades 
of  the  eighteenth  century  saw  a  marked  advance  in  public  sentiment 
with  the  result  that  academies  were  opened  throughout  the  Northern 
and  Eastern  states  which  gave  to  girls  far  wider  opportunities  than 
had  been  deemed  possible  to  the  most  visionary  woman  of  the  old 
days.  In  the  schools  and  under  the  influence  of  more  enlightened 
sentiment  were  trained  the  women  teachers  who  were  to  have  a 
marked  influence  on  their  sex  in  the  United  States. 

First  among  women  of  the  Era  was  Mrs.  Emma  Hart  Willard, 


See  biography  of  Mrs.  Adams  by  her  grandson,  Charles  Francis  Adams. 


224 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


who  was  born  in  Berlin,  Conn.,  1787,  of  the  best  New  England 
stock  and  into  a  family  where  culture  of  mind  and  heart  went  hand 
in  hand.  From  her  earliest  years  she  showed  unusual  independence 
of  thought  and  strength  of  character.  She  began  to  teach  at 
seventeen  and  from  the  first  was  eminently  successful,  but  the  great 
work  of  her  life  began  in  1814  when  to  relieve  the  pecuniary  embar¬ 
rassment  of  her  husband,  and  as  she  says,  “to  keep  a  better  school 
than  those  about  me,”  she  opened  a  school  at  her  house  at  Middle- 
bury,  Vt.  She  brought  to  her  task  a  wise  enthusiasm  and  great 
patience  in  working  out  its  details.  She  studied  constantly  to 
improve  herself  and  to  develop  better  methods  of  instruction,  spend¬ 
ing  from  ten  to  fifteen  hours  daily  in  discharge  of  her  duties  and  in 
study.  As  her  biographer  Dr.  John  Lord  says:  “  Her  profession 
was  an  art.  She  loved  it  as  Palestrina  loved  music  and  Michael 
Angelo  loved  painting  and  it  was  its  own  reward.” 

Her  disadvantages  were  great  and  most  keenly  felt;  she  wrote: 
“  The  professors  of  the  college  attended  my  examinations  although 
I  was  advised  by  the  president  that  it  would  not  be  becoming  in  me 
nor  a  safe  precedent  if  I  should  attend  theirs,  so,  as  I  had  no  teach¬ 
ers  in  learning  my  new  studies,  I  had  no  model  in  teaching  or  ex¬ 
amining  them.  But  I  had  faith  in  the  clear  conclusions  of  my  own 
mind.  I  knew  that  nothing  could  be  truer  than  truth,  and  hence  I 
fearlessly  brought  to  examination  the  classes  to  which  had  been 
taught  the  studies  I  had  just  acquired.  .  .  .  My  neighborhood  to 
Middlebury  College  made  me  feel  bitterly  the  disparity  in  educa¬ 
tional  facilities  between  the  two  sexes,  and  I  hoped  if  the  matter  was 
once  set  before  the  men  as  legislators  they  would  be  ready  to  correct 
the  error.” 

In  1S18,  after  four  very  successful  years  she  determined  to  appeal 
to  the  public,  and  accordingly  presented  an  address  to  the  New  York 
Legislature.  The  views  set  forth,  though  familiar  to  all  in  our  day, 
were  revolutionary  to  her  contemporaries  though  she  by  no  means 
revealed  all  her  hopes.  To  quote  her  own  words:  “  I  knew  I 
should  be  regarded  as  visionary,  almost  to  insanity,  should  I  utter 
the  expectations  that  I  secretly  entertained.  She  asked  the  State  to 
endow  institutions  for  its  daughters  as  it  had  for  its  sons,  and  to  “no 
longer  leave  them  to  become  the  prey  of  private  adventurers,  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


225 


result  of  which  nas  been  to  make  the  daughters  of  the  rich  frivolous 
and  those  of  the  poor,  drudges.”  She  claims  that  reason  and  re¬ 
ligion  teach  that  women  ‘‘are  primary  existences;  that  it  is  for  us  to 
move  in  the  orbit  of  our  duty  round  the  Holy  Centre  of  Perfection, 
the  companions,  not  the  satellites  of  men.”  Lest  she  should  seem  to 
unsex  woman  by  conforming  too  much  to  the  sterner  methods  for 
the  education  of  men,  she  sketches  what  a  seminary  for  woman 
should  be.  She  says:  ‘‘It  would  be  desirable  that  young  ladies 
should  spend  part  of  their  Sabbaths  in  hearing  discussions  relative  to 
the  peculiar  duties  of  their  sex,”  and  recommends  changes  in  scien¬ 
tific  text-books  to  adapt  them  to  the  intelligence  of  female  pupils, 
while  she  considers  ‘‘domestic  instructions”  important. 

The  time  was  ripe  for  the  gradual  perfecting  of  her  plans.  Not 
only  did  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton,  a  statesman  of  the  broadest 
type,  favor  them,  but  John  Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  with  other 
men  of  note,  wrote  letters  commending  them,  so  that  the  clear  con¬ 
victions  of  her  own  mind  were  reinforced  by  the  opinions  of  the 
ablest  men  of  the  day,  and  she  had  courage  to  wait  for  the  time 
when  prejudice  should  give  place  to  enlightened  public  action.  The  re¬ 
sult  of  her  appeal  to  the  Legislature  was  that  her  seminary,  now  re¬ 
moved  to  Waterford,  N.  Y. ,  was  placed  on  the  list  of  institutions  which 
shared  the  literary  fund.  It  was  at  this  school  a  young  lady  was  ex¬ 
amined  in  geometry,  which  fact  called  forth  a  ‘‘storm  of  ridicule.” 
Later,  when  a  bill  granting  $ 2,000  had  passed  the  Senate,  but  failed 
in  the  Lower  House,  the  people  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  came  to  her  rescue 
and  raised  $4,000  by  a  tax,  and  a  subscription  for  a  building,  to 
which  she  came  in  1821.  This  was  the  Troy  Female  Seminary,  so 
justly  celebrated.  The  advanced  curriculum  of  the  school  included 
the  higher  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy.  Her  conviction 
that  “  young  women  are  capable  of  applying  themselves  to  the  higher 
branches  of  knowledge  as  well  as  young  men  ’  ’  was  abundantly 
proven  in  the  thirty  years  of  her  career  as  teacher,  with  the  result  to 
permanently  raise  the  standard  of  their  education.  Of  the  5,000 
pupils  who  came  under  her  instruction,  one  in  ten  became  teachers. 
More  than  200  graded  Troy  seminaries  are  now  reckoned,  extending 
to  South  America  and  Athens,  Greece.  Half  the  number  are 
in  the  Southern  states,  and  two-thirds  confer  degrees.* 


*  Woman’s  Work  in  America. 


226 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Notable  among  teachers  nearly  contemporary  with  Mrs.  Willard 
were  Miss  Catherine  Fisk,  New  Hampshire,  Mrs.  Grant  and  Miss 
Lyon  of  Massachusetts,  Miss  Catherine  Beecher  of  Connecticut,  and 
the  Misses  Longstreeth  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Miss  Fisk,  for  twenty-three  years  to  her  death,  1836,  carried  on  a 
school  “in  which  she  received  2,500  pupils  to  a  course  of  study 
which  embraced  botany,  chemistry,  astronomy  and  Watts  on  the 
mind.’’ 

Miss  Catherine  Beecher,  first  at  Hartford  from  1822-32  and  later 
at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  conducted  schools  wrhere  Latin  and  Calisthenics 
were  included  in  the  course  of  study.  Endowed  with  the  extraordinary 
individuality  of  her  family,  she  gave  to  her  work  a  character  quite 
her  own.  She  wrote  text  books  on  mental  and  moral  philosophy 
and  theology,  and  unless  she  should  seem  to  have  soared  beyond  the 
true  sphere  of  woman  she  published  a  “domestic  receipt  book.”* 

The  most  notable  woman  of  this  group  was  Mary  Lyon,  who  was 
born  in  central  Massachusetts  in  1797.  A  teacher  first  in  the  little 
school  houses  among  the  hills,  then  a  student  under  Rev.  Joseph 
Emerson  at  Byfield  Academy,  and  afterward  associated  with  Miss 
Grant  at  Derry,  N.  H.,  and  at  Ipswich  Academy  Mass.,  she 
undertook  a  work  which  has  been  no  less  far  reaching  than  that  of 
Mrs.  Willard.  This  was  the  conception  and  establishing  of  a  “school 
which  shall  put  within  reach  of  students  of  moderate  means  such 
opportunities  that  the  wealthy  cannot  find  better  ones.”  To  accom¬ 
plish  this  she  worked  against  great  odds.  She  met  ridicule  in  high 
places  and  doubt  and  indifference  on  all  sides.  By  personal  appeal 
and  influence  she  raised  the  few  thousand  dollars  necessary  to  carry 
out  her  plan,  often  receiving  subscriptions  for  so  small  a  sum  as  fifty 
cents.  In  1834,  she  brought  her  plan  before  the  Massachusetts 
General  Session.  A  Doctor  of  Divinity  made  haste  to  say:  “You 
see  how  this  method  has  utterly  failed.  Let  this  page  of  Divine 
Providence  be  attentively  considered  in  relation  to  this  matter. 

But  in  spite  of  discouragement  and  opposition,  in  1837  Mount 
Holyoke  Seminary  was  opened  in  the  beautiful  Connecticut  Valley 
and  another  step  was  taken  in  bringing  education  to  women.  The 
terms  for  fifteen  years  were  sixty  dollars  for  a  year  of  forty  weeks, 


*  Woman’s  Work  in  America. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


227 


the  pupils  doing  most  of  the  work  of  the  house.  The  life  was 
ordered  in  a  spirit  of  religious  fervor  and  was  almost  ascetic  in  its 
severity.  Miss  Lyon’s  plans  were  to  make  the  course  equal  to  that 
for  admission  to  college  and  to  advance  from  these  small  beginnings. 
It  was  her  hope  to  include  in  it  Latin  and  the  modern  languages,  but 
it  was  ten  years  before  Latin  could  appear  in  the  course  though  it 
was  optional  from  the  beginning.  In  1877,  after  the  lapse  of  forty 
years,  French  also  became  a  regular  study.  So  slowly  did  public 
opinion  and  prejudice  give  way.  The  spirit  of  the  Seminary  has 
always  been  one  of  high  moral  and  religious  enthusiasm  and  its 
graduates  have  gone  out  to  the  world  carrying  with  them  the  spirit 
of  its  founder,  and  like  institutions  have  been  established  in  Turkey, 
Spain,  Persia,  Japan  and  in  Cape  Colony,  South  Africa,  and  in  our 
own  country  from  ocean  to  ocean,  including  the  Cherokee  Seminary, 
founded  by  John  Ross  in  the  Indian  territory  in  1850. 

Probably  no  two  women  have  so  influenced  the  education  of  their 
sex  in  America  as  Mrs.  Willard,  whose  work  advanced  the  higher 
education  by  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  century,*  and  Miss  Lyon,  who 
inaugurated  a  system  by  which  the  benefits  of  education  can  be 
brought  to  women  of  narrow  means. 

In  the  West  it  was  graduates  of  Troy  Seminary,  Mt.  Holyoke 
and  kindred  institutions,  who  established  seminaries  and  conducted 
the  best  private  schools,  laying  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of 
culture  for  the  women  who  have  carried  on  the  work  very  nobly. 
It  was  women  graduated  from  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  who  opened  the  first 
Normal  Schools  in  the  West  and  raised  the  standard  of  professional 
training  for  the  common  schools.  But  the  Western  spirit  of  large 
liberality  and  untiring  energy  is  all  its  own.  Nowhere  have  such 
generous  endowments  been  given  to  found  institutions  of  learning 
and  nowhere  have  women  shared  so  fully  in  the  benefits  of  the 
higher  education.  This  equality  in  the  training  of  men  and  women 
in  institutions  of  high  grade  must  result  in  making  better  teachers 
of  women  and  in  a  fairer  remuneration  for  their  services.  In  this 
matter  of  more  equal  compensation  to  men  and  women  for  like  ser- 

*  It  is  very  certain  that  but  for  Mrs.  Willard,  her  years  of  patient  working  and  struggle  that 
at  least  for  another  quarter  of  a  century  no  such  concessions  would  have  been  made  even  to  so 
just  a  demand. — Rev.  E.  B.  Huntington,  in  sketch  of  Mrs.  Willard,  1888. 


228 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


vices  in  the  schools  we  find  the  States  of  the  West  taking  the  lead, 
California  being  among  the  first. 

Through  the  gifted  sister  and  associate  of  Mrs.  Willard,  Mrs. 
Almira  Lincoln  Phelps,*  principal  of  the  Patapsco  Institute,  near 
Baltimore,  the  system  of  the  Troy  Seminary  was  introduced  in  the 
South  and  at  once  raised  the  standard  of  girls’  schools.  But  to  the 
Moravians  in  the  South,  as  in  the  North,  belongs  the  honor  of  in¬ 
augurating  a  system  of  thorough,  if  elementary,  training  for  girls. 
In  1834  they  opened  the  Salem  Academy  in  the  northwestern  part 
of  North  Carolina.  Between  six  and  seven  thousand  pupils  have 
been  educated  in  this  school.  Says  the  author  of  “Education  in 
North  Carolina”  :  “The  influence  of  Salem  Academy  has  been 
widespread.  For  many  years  it  was  the  only  institute  in  the  South 
for  feirfale  education . A  great  many  of  its  alumni  have  be¬ 

come  heads  of  seminaries  aud  academies,  carrying  the  thorough  and 
painstaking  methods  of  this  school  into  their  own  institutions.  It  is 
probably  owing  to  the  Salem  Academy  that  preparatory  institutions 
for  the  education  of  girls  are  more  numerous'  in  the  South,  and  as  a 
rule  better  equipped  than  are  similar  institutions  for  boys.” 

With  the  war  of  1812,  the  spirit  of  national  patriotism  was  born, 
and  the  conviction  that  the  safety  of  the  republic  lay  in  educating 
the  masses  led  to  what  has  been  aptly  termed  “  The  Revival  of 
Education. ”f  One  of  the  results  of  this  movement  we  have  seen  in 
the  support  given  to  Mrs.  Willard,  and  another  very  fruitful  result  is 
found  in  the  development  of  the  Normal  School,  J  in  which  we  find 
the  first  impulse  toward  a  higher  standard  of  teaching  in  the  public 
schools.  But  it  was  many  years  before  the  efforts  of  men  whose 
names  are  a  national  inheritance!  were  brought  to  a  successful  issue. 

*  Mrs.  Willard,  Mrs.  Phelps  and  Maria  Mitchell  were  the  first  three  women  members  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science.  Mrs.  Phelps  read  several  papers 
before  the  Association  and  was  author  of  text  books  on  Botany,  Chemistry,  Geology  and 
Mental  Philosophy. 

f"  The  Revival  of  Education."  An  address  to  the  Normal  Association,  Bridgewater,  Mass., 
Augusts,  1S55,  by  Rev.  Samuel  J.  May,  Syracuse,  N.  V. 

|  See  *  Rise  and  Growth  of  the  Normal  School  Idea  in  the  United  States,”  by  J.  P.  Gordy, 
Professor  of  Pedagogy  in  Ohio  University,  Athens,  Ohio. — Bureau  of  Education  1892. 

|  Prof.  Denison  Olmstead,  De  Witt  Clinton,  Horace  Mann,  William  Ellery'  Channing 
Gallandeb  and  Rev.  Charles  Brooks  were  among  them.  Mr.  Brooks  drove  in  his  chaise  over 
soco  miles  to  present  the  subject  at  his  own  cost  to  the  people. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


229 


In  1838  the  first  normal  school  was  opened  at  Lexington,  Mass. 
The  more  famous  and  influential  school  at  Oswego,  N.  Y.  in  1861. 
For  the  first  twenty  years  in  Massachusetts,  eighty-seven  per  cent  of 
the  graduates  were  girls.  From  the  beginning,  women  proved 
themselves  able  both  as  students  and  teachers,*  but  it  was  thirty 
years  before  they  took  their  places  as  principals. 

On  the  inauguration  of  Miss  Annie  E.  Johnston  as  principal  of  the 
'State  Normal  School  at  Framingham,  Mass.,  in  1866,  ex-Governor 
Washburn  said:  “  I  congratulate  you  that  by  the  experiment  this 
day  inaugurated,  your  sex  is  at  last  to  have  one  fair  field  in  which  to 
vindicate  the  confidence  which  the  board  of  education  in  behalf  of 
the  State,  have — that  in  the  learning  and  skill  and  patriotic  senti¬ 
ment  of  her  daughters  the  Commonwealth  is  to  share  an  element  of 
moral  power  which  has  never  before  been  fully  developed.  The  free 
states  of  Greece  did  not  lose  their  independence  so  much  from  the 
lack  of  intelligence  and  love  of  liberty  in  their  men  as  for  want  of 
the  influence,  the  counsel  and  the  equal  companionship  of  women.” 

In  their  next  annual  report  the  visitors  said: 

“  In  one  thing  the  visitors  of  the  Framingham  school  take  special 
satisfaction  in  offering  this,  their  report  of  its  condition  the  last 
year,  and  that  is,  in  the  entire  success  of  its  management  by  a  female 
principal  and  female  assistants.  ”f  And  this  verdict  can  be  pro¬ 
nounced  of  normal  schools  in  charge  of  women  in  all  parts  of  the 
United  States,  for  in  no  department  of  education  have  thev  done 
better  work. 

The  kindergarten  from  the  beginning  in  this  country  has  belonged 
to  woman’s  kingdom,  and,  though  here  more  than  elsewhere,  there 
has  been  much  humbug  and  misunderstanding  of  methods,  the  results 
have  been  in  the  main  satisfactory.  From  the  time  of  its  introduc¬ 
tion  by  Miss  Elizabeth  Peabody  and  Mrs.  Horace  Mann,  early  in  the 
sixties ,  there  has  been  constant  advance  in  methods  and  their  appli¬ 
cation  to  the  needs  of  American  children.  Miss  Blow  and  Miss  Con¬ 
way,  of  the  South,  and  Mrs.  Comper,  of  San  Francisco,  are  names 
that  occur  to  all  in  connection  with  the  initiative  work,  while  many 
laboring  for  the  poor  in  the  free  kindergartens  of  our  large  cities 


*  See  Prof.  Gordy’s  Report. 
+  See  Prof  Gordy’s  Report. 


230 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


or  for  more  fortunate  children  with  remarkable  results  must  go 
nameless  for  want  of  space. 

At  present  in  the  schools  of  the  East  and  West  the  large  majority 
of  teachers  are  women.  A * 

This  superiority  in  numbers  of  women  to  men  dates  from  the 
beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  when  by  the  voluntary  enrollment  of 
large  numbers  of  young  men  who  were  teaching,  their  places  were 
taken  by  women, f  and  women  have  continued  to  hold  them,  not  by 
virtue  of  superiority  or  fitness,  though  in  many  cases  this  will  not  be 
disputed,  but  chiefly  because  the  remuneration  is  so  small  as  to  make 
it  impossible  for  men  to  choose  teaching  as  a  profession../?* 

No  one  can  study  the  reports  and  records  of  teachers,  or  observe 
carefully  the  history  of  schools,  without  being  convinced  that  in  spite 
of  imperfect  training  and  most  imperfect  methods  and  the  evil  politi¬ 
cal  influence  in  the  administration  of  public  schools  the  majority  of 
women  are  conscientious  in  the  routine  work  of  teaching  and  self- 
sacrificing  in  their  devotion  to  its  interests,  and  that  their  influence  is 
for  the  building  up  of  moral  character  in  their  pupils. 

Before  drawing  this  brief  sketch  to  a  close,  attention  must  be  called 
to  the  remarkable  educational  movement  now  going  on  in  the  South. 
In  its  vitality  and  extent,  it  can  only  be  likened  to  the  awakening 
of  1812  in  the  North  with  this  difference;  that  whereas  men  were 
most  active  in  the  earlier,  women  are  the  guiding  spirits  and  workers 
in  the  later  movement. 

In  his  admirable  report,  “Southern  Women  in  the  Recent  Educa¬ 
tional  Movement  in  the  South,”  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo  says:  “If  we 
were  to  name  the  one  feature  of  Southern  life  which,  during  a  twelve 
years’  ministry  of  education  that  has  been  a  virtual  residence  with 
and  study  of  Southern  society,  has  compelled  our  attention,  we 
should  without  hesitation  indicate  this.  The  push  to  the  front  of  the 
better  sort  of  Southern  young  womanhood,  everywhere  encouraged  by 
the  sympathy,  support ,  sacrifice,  toils  and  prayers  of  the  superior 
women  of  the  elder  gcneratio?i  at  home.  ...  It  is  not  always  under¬ 
stood  by  the  people  who  should  be  in  complete  sympathy  with  the 

*  A.  B.  Latest  Educational  Reports. 

t  In  1862  the  Superintendent  of  Ohio  Schools,  estimates  that  5,000  teachers  in  that  State  had 
entered  the  Army.  New  York  sent  3.000  of  her  teachers.— Educational  Report,  1888-9. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WO  MAE. 


231 


movement.  .  .  .  But  coming  it  is,  more  rapidly  than  ever  was 
known  in  the  development  of  any  society  so  large  and  complex,  with 
bright  omens  of  hope  and  cheer,  not  only  to  the  young  womanhood 
of  the  South,  but  laden  with  a  benediction  to  American  life.”  * 

The  interval  of  time  between  Dame  Murrayf,  whose  tomb-stone  in 
the  grave-yard  opposite  Harvard  College  records  the  date  of  1707 , 
and  a  woman  president  of  Wellesley  or  principal  of  Oberlin  College, 
a  Maria  Mitchell  of  Vassar,  or  a  woman  professor  in  Chicago  Uni¬ 
versity,  is  a  span  of  more  than  years.  For  women  it  is  a  span  be¬ 
tween  two  worlds,  and  yet  the  change  has  been  wrought  almost  im¬ 
perceptibly  until  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  when  we  see  the 
foundations  laid  for  a  new  social  order  in  which  men  and  women  shall 
bear  equal  part. 


*  Mr.  Mayo  says  there  are  probably  8,000  colored  women  teaching  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
South,  and  that  he  never  “  spends  an  hour  in  the  school  room  with  one  of  them  without  feeling 
that  the  colored  woman  has  a  natural  aptitude  for  teaching  certain  to  make  her  a  most  powerful 
influence  in  the  future  of  her  race. 

t  Mrs.  Murray’s  tombstone  bears  the  following  inscription: 

“  This  good  school  dame 

No  longer  school  must  keep, 

Which  gives  us  cause 
For  children’s  sake  to  weep.” 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


MASSACHUSETTS  NORMAL  SCHOOLS. 

BY  MRS.  KATE  GANNETT  WELLS.* 

THE  Normal  Schools  of  Massachusetts  owe  their  origin  to  the 
ordinance  of  1642,  which  decreed  that  children  should  be 
brought  up  to  learning  and  labor,  to  understand  the  principles  of 
religion  and  the  capital  laws  of  the  country.  Since  then  each  step 
in  education  has  been  in  fulfilment  of  the  broad  principle  laid  down 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  The  act  of  1647  made  education 
not  only  compulsory  but  universal  and  free.  “  Forasmuch  as  it  was 
one  chiefe  project  of  that  ould  deluder  Satan  to  keepe  men  from  the 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  ...  by  persuading  from  the  use  of 
tongues,”  it  was  ordered  that  each  town  of  one  hundred  families 
should  establish  and  maintain  a  grammar  school  in  addition  to  its 
elementary  schools. 

As  this  was  the  first  law  ever  passed  in  favor  of  free,  compulsory 
education,  Massachusetts  claims  the  honor  of  having  originated  the 
free  public  school  system. 

The  next  step  in  compulsory  legislation  dealt  with  the  moral  and 
intellectual  qualifications  of  teachers.  Each  schoolmaster,  even  of 
an  elementary  grade  was  obliged  to  have  a  classical  education  before 
he  could  receive  a  certificate  of  his  ability  to  teach,  though  this 
requisite  was  abandoned  in  later  years.  Within  the  last  century 
many  acts  have  been  passed  only  to  be  abolished,  as  time  has  proved 
their  inefficiency.  The  district  system  of  early  date  with  its  later 
modifications  was  not  finally  given  up  till  1882.  In  1826  each  town 
was  required  to  elect  its  school  committee  and  high  schools  were 


♦Member  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Education;  author  of  "About  People,"  “Miss 
Curtiss,  etc. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


233 


established  from  which  the  study  of  Greek  and  Latin  should  be 
omitted.  Yet  as  the  old  fashioned  grammar  schools  adopted  more 
modern  methods  and  gave  up  the  teaching  of  the  classics  these  have 
crept  into  the  curriculums  of  the  High  Schools.  In  1834  a  School 
Fund  was  formed.  In  1884  towns  were  ordered  to  provide  text 
books  and  school  supplies  at  public  expense.  In  regard  to  this  last 
decree  there  is  still  a  grave  doubt  of  its  wisdom. 

The  enactment  of  these  various  laws  more  and  more  specialized 
the  functions  of  a  teacher.  The  schoolmaster  was  no  longer  required 
to  serve  summonses,  lead  the  Sunday  choir,  dig  graves  and  perform 
“other  occasional  duties.”  Even  as  late  as  1815  when  Samuel  R. 
Hall  taught  his  first  school  in  Bethel,  Maine,  the  dignity  of  a 
teacher’s  position  was  little  realized.  It  was  considered  unnatural  in 
him  to  wish  to  teach  composition  and  he  was  obliged  to  rehearse  his 
reasons  before  parents  and  pupils  and  then  to  leave  it  optional  with 
the  latter  whether  or  not  on  an  appointed  day  each  one  should  hand 
in  a  composition.  Each  one  did.  A  few  years  later  James  G. 
Carter,  who  has  been  called  “the  father  of  Normal  schools,”  opened 
a  training  school  in  Lancaster,  Mass.,  and  in  1837  the  bill  was  drawn 
providing  for  the  State  Board  of  Education.  Horace  Mann  became 
its  first  secretary.  He  was  a  man  of  determined  will,  an  advocate  of 
broad  measures  and  yet  patient  in  organizing  details.  The  resources 
of  his  knowledge  were  great  and  varied.  Massachusetts  is  more  in¬ 
debted  to  him  than  to  any  other  man  for  the  enormous  impetus 
he  gave  to  education,  which  enabled  her  at  that  time  to  take  the 
foremost  rank  in  public  school  matters.  Largely  through  his  in¬ 
fluence  the  Normal  schools  were  established,  the  first  in  1839  at 
Lexington,  with  Cyrus  Pierce  as  Principal,  who  was  so  loved  that  he 
was  always  called  Father  Pierce.  As  outgrowth  of  that  school, 
partly  contemporary  with  it,  are  the  five  Normal  schools  of  the  State, 
now  situated  at  Framingham,  Worcester,  Salem,  Bridgewater  and 
Westfield,  respectively. 

These  Normal  schools,  founded  in  a  common  purpose,  subject  to 
the  same  courses  of  study,  the  same  examinations  and  length  of  terms, 
furnish  the  apex  of  our  public  school  system  and  are  the  natural 
supplement  to  compulsory  education  in  the  lower  grades.  The  Nor¬ 
mal  schools  hold  their  own  in  point  of  numbers  from  entrance  to 


234 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


graduation,  because  its  education  is  desired  for  the  sake  of  thereby 
gaining  a  future  livelihood.  The  pupils  come  from  all  ranks  of  life, 
a  large  proportion  of  them  are  the  children  of  farmers,  mechanics  and 
small  manufacturers.  Home  training  tells,  when  boys  and  girls 
representing  homes  supported  by  the  occupations  of  skilled  labor  are 
brought  into  competition  with  their  fellow  pupils,  whose  fathers  are 
unskilled  laborers.  Yet  here  as  everywhere  else  wisely  directed 
energy  meets  with  final  success.  The  graduates  are  scattered 
throughout  the  State  and  far  beyond  its  confines.  Numerically  there 
are  not  enough  of  them  to  meet  the  demand  for  teachers. 

In  all  the  schools  there  are  two  courses,  one  of  two  years,  another 
of  four.  The  Principals  and  the  Board  urge  with  growing  insistence 
the  superior  advantages  of  the  four  years’  course.  A  Normal  school 
should  never  be  the  elementary  school  which  it  often  is  compelled 
to  be  owing  to  the  deficiencies  of  its  pupils.  Pedagogy  already  con¬ 
stitutes  a  large  part  of  its  training,  the  best  educators  recognizing 
that  this  is  the  branch  of  education  which  should  be  specially  developed 
in  Normal  schools.  Pedagogy  means  spirit  as  well  as  method; 
sympathy  as  well  as  routine;  the  analytic  and  objective  method  re¬ 
solving  itself  into  synthesis;  the  process  of  induction  corrected  by 
deduction;  the  art  of  manner  as  much  as  the  skill  of  the  voice;  in 
short  pedagogy  embraces  the  attainment  of  every  possible  requisite  by 
which  a  teacher  can  be  taught  how  to  teach,  knowledge  of  subjects 
being  presupposed.  Because  such  knowledge  is  often  lacking  are 
our  Normal  schools  compelled  to  depart  from  their  high  vocations 
and  apply  themselves  to  the  furnishing  of  elementary  instruction  to 
their  pupils. 

The  Normal  schools  of  Massachusetts  are  arranged  so  as  to  offer 
co-education  or  not  as  desired.  At  Framingham,  where  Miss  Ellen 
Hyde  is  Principal,  only  girls  are  pupils  and  only  women  are  teachers 
with  the  exception  of  the  singing-master.  The  government  of  the 
school  is  simple  and  home-like.  There  are  few  rules,  no  marks, 
ranking,  honor  rolls  or  artificial  stimuli  of  any  kind.  The  two 
boarding  houses  realize  family  life.  The  soft  colors  of  the  parlor 
furniture,  the  etchings  on  the  walls,  the  dainty  but  inexpensive  table 
appointments,  the  serving  of  the  meals  are  all  marked  by  taste  and 
refinement.  A  pupil,  who  on  entrance  lacks  dignity  or  grace  of 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


235 


manner  and  gentleness  of  tone  soon  acquires  them  under  the  friendly- 
watchfulness  of  noble  and  refined  women,  whose  courtesy  does  not 
lessen  their  scholarly  thoroughness  or  high  intellectual  standards. 
The  “practice  school”  attended  by  children  of  the  town  is  in  the 
same  building  with  the  Normal  school,  with  special  “critic-teachers” 
assigned  to  it  by  the  principal,  who  gives  the  “pupil-teachers”  as 
great  a  variety  of  work  and  discipline  of  classes  as  is  possible.  The 
necessarily  constant  change  in  ‘  ‘  pupil-teachers  ’  ’  keeps  the  children 
so  alert  that  they  make  up  in  brightness  what  they  might  lose  in 
exactness  if  it  were  not  for  the  constant  presence  of  trained  critics. 

The  Normal  school  at  Westfield,  James  C.  Greenough,  Principal, 
includes  both  young  men  and  women,  though  there  are  very  few  of 
the  former.  It  also  has  a  most  pleasant  and  home-like  boarding 
house.  This  was  the  first  school  to  follow  the  analytic,  objective 
method,  requiring  the  learner  to  work  out  his  own  problems;  for  all 
branches  of  study  should  be  taught  with  special  reference  to  teaching 
them  to  others,  according  to  the  laws  which  control  and  develop  the 
mind. 

The  largest  Normal  school  in  numbers  is  that  at  Bridgewater,  A. 
G.  Boyden,  Principal.  Like  Westfield  it  has  a  boarding  house  and 
includes  both  men  and  women,  but  the  proportion  between  them  is 
far  more  equal.  Here  the  sciences  receive  much  attention,  study 
being  pursued  outdoors  in  contact  with  nature.  Each  teacher  and 
each  department  is  provided  with  carefully  arranged  printed  series 
or  schedules,  which  facilitate  the  work  of  the  pupil  and  serve  as 
topical  analysis.  The  Model  or  Practice  schools  both  here  and  at 
Westfield  are  excellent. 

The  school  at  Salem,  Daniel  B.  Hagar,  Principal,  is  exclusively 
for  girls  as  day  pupils,  who,  at  the  close  of  the  long  morning  session, 
return  to  their  homes  in  the  city  and  surrounding  towns.  It  is  con¬ 
ducted  in  the  same  general  manner  as  the  other  schools.  The  work 
done  is  thorough  in  detail,  broad  in  spirit  and  an  atmosphere  of  zeal 
and  kindliness  pervades  all  the  departments.  The  work  in  physics 
and  chemistry  is  specially  good. 

The  Worcester  Normal  school  is  for  girls  only.  It  has  one 
dormitory  but  the  occupants  get  their  meals  at  the  neighbors’  homes. 
Instead  of  a  Model  school  there  is  a  system  of  apprenticeship,  which 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


236 

consists  of  systematic  observation  of  the  city  public  schools  and  of 
teaching  in  them  under  the  joint  direction  of  the  city  superintendent 
and  the  faculty  of  the  Normal  school.  Each  student  serves  in  at 
least  three  grades  of  schools,  reporting  upon  her  experiences  to  the 
principal  and  at  the  end  of  her  apprenticeship  returning  to  the  Nor¬ 
mal  for  six  months  before  obtaining  her  diploma. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  school  is  its  method  of  teaching  psy¬ 
chology.  Original  observation  of  children  is  made  part  of  the  regular 
training,  not  with  the  purpose  of  tabulating  extraordinary  sayings  but 
of  classifying  the  every-day  developments  of  a  child’s  mind.  Records 
are  kept  by  the  pupils  of  peculiarities  of  language  and  gesture,  of 
likes  and  dislikes,  of  follies,  faults,  habits,  abilities.  These  are  ar¬ 
ranged  by  the  teachers  under  various  headings.  Eventually  the 
most  important  of  them  will  be  published  through  the  interest  of 
Clark  University.  Observation  of  children,  that  is  study  of  mind, 
must  always  lie  at  the  foundation  of  teaching. 

In  all  the  schools  manual  training  is  taught,  the  pupils  acquiring 
mental  descipline  through  handiwork  and  also  an  “appreciative 
sympathy  with  the  industrial  world.”  They  make  the  apparatus 
which  they  will  need  in  their  future  work  as  teachers,  such  as  insect 
boxes,  cabinets,  botany  presses,  test-tube  stands,  etc. 

It  would  be  as  invidious  as  untrue  to  say  that  one  school  is  better 
than  another,  yet  these  few  data  may  indicate  the  individual  differ¬ 
ences  among  them  arising  from  the  locality  of  the  school,  the  districts 
and  homes  from  which  the  students  come  and  the  personal  bias  or 
influence  of  the  faculty;  for  each  teacher  is  first  himself;  his  profession 
is  something  assumed  by  him. 

The  training,  model  or  practise  schools  connected  with  the 
Normal  schools  have  been  the  most  efficient  cause  of  their  success 
and  of  the  prestige  which  attaches  to  their  graduates  as  teachers. 
The  first  training-school  in  the  State  was  an  adjunct  of  the  Normal 
school  at  Lexington,  which  now  is  continued  at  Framingham.  In 
all  such  schools  the  pupil-teachers  quickly  recognize  their  deficien¬ 
cies  of  method  and  manner  and  slowly  gain  confidence  in  their 
future  ability. 

These  Normal  graduates  pass  from  their  individual  practise- 
schools  into  the  large  field  of  composition  and  of  work  in  cities, 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


237 


towns  and  villages,  where  they  serve  as  teachers  of  all  grades.  To 
freshen  their  memories,  to  serve  as  reviews  of  their  knowledge  and 
to  learn  of  new  methods  of  study  they  attend  “  Institutes,’' 
which  are  a  powerful  means  of  maintaining  a  high  standard  of 
teaching. 

These  Institutes  were  organized  by  the  Board  of  Education  in 
1845  and  have  passed  through  such  changes  as  time  has  proved 
necessary.  Now  they  are  arranged  for  small  districts,  several  towns 
combining  in  holding  one  under  the  direction  of  an  agent  of  the 
State  Board  of  Education.  One  town  takes  the  lead  in  hospitality 
and  offers  its  best  school  building  as  a  place  of  meeting  and  its  town 
hall  as  a  room  for  a  collation.  The  local  school  committee,  the 
district  superintendent  and  the  State  agent  arranging  a  pro¬ 
gramme.  The  evening  before  the  day  session  a  popular  address  is 
delivered.  The  day  work  consists  of  teaching  exercises  and  illustra¬ 
tions  of  methods,  given  by  divisions  to  various  grades  of  teachers.  Pri¬ 
mary,  intermediate,  grammar  and  high  school  sections  of  an  institute 
having  each  its  appropriate  hours.  After  the  hour  assigned  to  each 
topic  is  over  the  teachers  gather  around  the  lecturer  questioning  him 
and  comparing  notes,  enthusiasm  being  'always  awakened.  The 
cordiality  of  intercourse  is  delightful  as  teachers  meet  their  former 
masters  and  tell  of  their  perplexities  or  as  they  hear  his  fresh  state¬ 
ment  of  some  old  subject,  they  realize  that  knowledge  even  in  its 
slightest  details  is  always  broadening.  The  Nature  studies,  (which 
are  now  becoming  part  of  each  school  curriculum)  are  presented 
objectively,  for  only  in  this  way  can  they  be  well  taught  at  these 
institutes  and  become  an  inspiration  to  those  teachers  who  have 
fallen  into  fixed  or  unsatisfactory  ways  of  teaching.  From  fifteen  to 
twenty  of  these  institutes  are  held  each  year. 

In  addition  to  the  five  Normal  schools  of  Massachusetts,  there  is  a 
Normal  art  school,  established  in  1873,  of  which  George  H.  Bart¬ 
lett  is  the  distinguished  Principal.  Primarily  it  is  a  training  school 
for  teachers  of  industrial  art,  but  it  also  aims  to  provide  for  high  skill 
in  technical  drawing  and  for  industrial  art  culture.  An  intense, 
quiet  enthusiasm  pervades  the  school,  the  pupils,  young  men  and 
women,  emulating,  criticising,  encouraging  each  other.  A  wonder¬ 
ful  spirit  of  comradeship  exists.  Though  there  is  a  distinct 


238 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


curriculum  in  the  school  the  individuality  of  each  instructor  gives 
it  a  peculiar  impetus  in  each  class-room  and  studio. 

Class  A  (that  of  elementary  drawing)  is  the  threshold  which  each 
must  cross.  In  entering  it  he  may  decide  between  a  two  years’ 
course,  which  will  simply  fit  him  to  teach  and  supervise  drawing  in 
the  public  schools,  and  a  four  years’  course,  which  will  prepare  him 
to  teach  the  broad  subject  of  industrial  art.  He  must  produce 
drawings  of  various  problems;  of  outline  and  shade;  of  details  of 
human,  animal,  insect  and  plant  form;  of  styles  of  historic  ornament, 
etc. 

In  Class  B  he  studies  advanced  perspective  industrial  design, 
historic  schools  of  painting  and  has  abundant  practice  in  watercolors 
and  oil. 

But  this  is  a  State  school  for  utilitarian  ends,  so  the  artist  must 
also  be  the  skilled  artisan.  Therefore  he  enters  class  C — makes 
designs  for  a  house  or  a  public  building;  gives  elevations,  sections 
and  perspective  with  structural  details.  He  draws  to  scale  a  machine 
and  prepares  its  details  for  the  shop.  He  puzzles  over  intersections 
of  solids  and  projections  of  shadows.  He  studies  the  subde  lines  of 
a  boat  and  learns  ship-draughting. 

That  he  may  be  thorough,  either  as  artist  or  artisan,  in  class  D  he 
models  in  clay  from  flat  copy,  studies  the  figure  in  the  round  or 
relief,  makes  his  own  models  from  nature,  and  casts  from  piece, 
sulphur  or  gelatine  mould. 

The  work  done  at  the  school  is  simply  extraordinary,  conducted 
in  a  quiet  but  effective  manner.  Out  of  its  harmony  of  growth  have 
arisen  specialists,  whose  reputation  as  it  reflects  back  upon  the  source 
of  their  training  is  creating  a  full  appreciation  of  it  by  the  general 
public,  by  artisans  and  by  artists. 

In  conclusion  it  can  be  truly  said  that  our  Normal  schools  give  an 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  topics  to  be  taught  in  the  public  schools; 
of  the  natural  objective  method  of  teaching  and  of  the  right  motives 
to  employ  in  controlling  children  and  awakening  their  interest  in 
study.  The  Normal  schools  are  professional,  not  academic.  Each 
exercise  is  conducted  with  reference  to  the  science  of  teaching. 
Knowledge  of  the  laws  of  the  mind  is  requisite  to  enable  the  pupil 
to  recognize  the  relationship  of  one  subject  to  another.  Thus 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


239 


comprehension  of  the  philosophy  of  teaching  is  the  corner  stone  of 
our  Normal  schools. 

To  Hon.  J.  W.  Dickinson,  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Edu¬ 
cation,  and  to  the  gentlemen  who  are  agents  of  the  Board  is  due 
much  of  the  increased  interest  in  institutes,  in  thorough  professional 
training  and  in  the  objective,  analytic  method  of  instructio 

It  is  curious  that  Massachusetts,  which  has  always  stood  for  the 
right  of  individualism,  (though  she  notably  neglected  that  right  in 
her  days  of  aggressive  Puritanism)  took  the  lead  in  making  education 
compulsory.  This  measure  has  been  followed  at  various  intervals  by 
compulsory  certification  of  teachers,  compulsory  supervision,  com¬ 
pulsory  taxation  and  compulsory  attendance.  And  now  as  other 
States  have  surpassed  her  in  special  lines  of  education  she  is  eager  to 
attain  unto  their  excellence. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


WELLESLEY  COLLEGE  TOWARDS  LIBERAL 
EDUCATION. 

BY  ANNE  EUGENIA  MORGAN.* 

IN  an  interpretation  of  the  problem  of  the  human  race,  which 
an  American  woman  has  embodied  in  sculpture,  may  be 
found  an  illustration  to  suggest  the  ideal  of  liberal  education, 
which  attracts  the  highest  aims  in  our  national  civilization.  This 
presentation  in  art  interprets  the  truth  of  the  organic  members 
of  the  human  race,  fulfilling  the  beauty  of  life  through  the  di¬ 
verse  exertions  of  both  man  and  woman,  united  to  perfect  the 
liberty  of  both  persons.  The  Greek  thought  differs  in  no  es¬ 
sential  element  from  our  own  experience  of  the  same  drama  of 
humanity.  It  is  the  right  ordering  of  the  human  race  as  dependent 
upon  the  comprehensive  assertion  of  true  aims  by  the  God  of  the 
enlightening  rays  of  the  morning  sun,  but  not  less  dependent  upon 
the  goddess  of  right  reflection,  who  faithfully  seeks  out  her  brother’s 
arrows  of  light  and  illumines  the  right  by  her  wise  interpretation  of  his 
delightful  meanings.  The  perplexing  questions  for  the  Greek  mind 
and  for  the  woman’s  colleges  to-day  arise  when  the  eager  sister  of 
Apollo  in  her  loyal  fulfilment  of  his  aims  is  arrested  in  her  course  of 
research  by  the  beauty  of  the  sleeping  Endymion.  The  impatient 
demands  of  modern  society  can  only  by  serious  determination  be 
restrained  from  interrupting  the  course  of  reflection  necessary  in 
order  to  develop  the  right  conception  of  the  Divine  ideals  for  the 
conduct  of  the  race. 

The  woman  artist  has  carved,  in  strong  relief,  the  features  of  the 
man,  representing  Endymion  after  his  deep  sleep,  like  the  Adam 


Miss  Anne  Eugenia  Morgan,  M.  A.  Professor  of  Philosophy,  Wellesley  College. 


Miss  Anne  Eugenia  Morgan, 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN 


241 


figure  in  the  universal  drama  of  creation,  ready  for  the  full  light  of 
the  dawning  day  of  his  immortal  fatherhood.  Out  of  the  positive 
substance  of  man’s  thinking  figure,  the  Diana  conception  of  his  inner 
possibilities  is  sculptured,  a  deep  intaglio  of  features  revealing  ideal 
purity  and  beauty.  The  enlightening  lines  of  truth  traced  by  the 
arrows  of  Apollo  could  not  achieve  the  reality  of  true  human  educa¬ 
tion  except  through  the  woman  interpreter  of  the  divine  aims.  By 
the  reflecting  of  his  loyal  sister  swiftly  searching  through  the  night  of 
man’s  ignorance,  the  beautiful  meaning  of  the  ideal  destiny  asserted 
by  Apollo,  finds  and  arouses  the  sleeping  Endymion.  In  this  repre¬ 
sentation  in  sculpture  the  face  of  Diana  reflects  forth  from  its  lines  of 
deep  cut  intaglio  in  a  luminous  relief.  It  appears  as  the  shadowless 
“substance  of  things  hoped  for  ’’—that  divine  longing  towards  the 
fulfilling  of  life,  which  is  “  evidence  of  things  not  seen.”  No  beauty 
of  actualized  satisfaction  could  move  man’s  heart  as  this  unfilled 
intaglio  of  ideal  attainment,  the  shadowless  hope  of  love’s  immortal 
conception  awaiting  the  Lord  of  her  highest  liberty.  This  light  of 
truth  revealed  in  the  beauty  of  true  reflection  is  the  only  unfailing  in¬ 
fluence  to  sustain  interest  towards  the  highest  education.  The  truth 
must  declare  how  it  serves  life  in  order  to  kindle  enthusiasm  to  sustain 
the  unremitting  toil  which  wins  the  information  and  discipline 
adequate  to  the  embodying  of  life  in  its  real  beauty. 

The  educator  most  influential  towards  calling  into  right  exertion 
the  plastic  mind  of  youth,  is  the  person  whose  estimate  is  held  highest, 

>  regarding  the  youth’s  ideal  possibilities.  Interpreting  the  founder  of 
Wellesley  College  according  to  his  estimate  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
youth  for  whose  education  he  spent  his  vital  energy  and  his  fortune, 
we  can  account  for  the  great  influence  towards  liberal  education  ex¬ 
erted  through  the  institution  which  he  established.  His  strong  be¬ 
lief  in  woman’s  highest  calling,  still  inspires  a  high-minded  courage 
seeking  ideal  attainments  in  character  and  in  scholarship. 

The  most  amazing  aspect  of  this  age  of  rapid  progress  through  the 
discovery  of  modes  for  utilizing  the  great  forces  in  nature  is,  that  this 
same  humanity  should  have  plodded  on  so  long  without  drawing 
from  nature  this  capital  for  its  enterprises.  How  have  these  toiling 
heirs  along  the  rough  ways  of  the  past,  failed  to  see  the  steeds  of 
electricity  prancing  wild  within  easy  reach  of  the  jewelled  bridle  of 


242 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


science,  and  the  vibrations  of  the  telephone  begging  to  be  employed 
as  swift  messengers  of  the  human  voice.  But  the  new  movement 
in  civilization  due  to  the  discovery  of  the  free  personality  of  woman, 
contrasts  so  astoundingly,  when  compared  to  the  plodding  efforts  of 
the  race,  before  the  liberating  efficiency  of  this  member  had.  been 
practically  recognized,  that  the  discovery  of  the  function  of  woman¬ 
hood  dawns  upon  our  reflective  imagination  as  an  event  of  the  great¬ 
est  importance  in  the  history  of  the  present  epoch.  Our  epoch  has 
been  interpreted  as  characterized  by  a  new  interest  in  developing  the 
organic  aspects  of  the  members  of  the  human  race.  This  theory  finds 
clear  facts  for  its  support  in  the  awakening  of  the  member  heretofore 
supposed  to  be  only  a  rib,  defending  as  mere  environment  the  vital 
circulation  of  the  race.  In  fulfilling  her  function  as  an  organic  mem¬ 
ber,  she  kindles  a  new  quality  of  efficiency  manifested  in  a  new  en¬ 
thusiasm  awakening  throughout  the  whole  membership  of  the  race. 
It  is  a  new  interest  in  the  whole  problem  of  human  life. 

The  tedious  effort  of  the  uneducated  woman  to  meet  the  confusing 
demands  of  her  uncomprehended  sphere  is  no  longer  supposed  to  be 
her  destined  mode  of  existence.  Such  wasting  the  energies  of  the 
race  by  neglecting  to  develop  the  intelligence  of  the  members  to 
whom  its  most  precious  resources  must  be  entrusted,  already  seems 
a  childish  absurdity.  The  bread-winner  must  toil  as  in  the  fruitless 
effort  of  a  troubled  dream  while  the  expenditure  of  an  uneducated 
wife  discounts  the  income  in  the  lack  of  understanding  to  discern 
the  broad  possibilities  of  an  intelligent  economy.  But  this  wasting 
of  material  resources  is  the  least  of  the  losses  from  neglecting  to  edu¬ 
cate  the  member  whose  function  it  is  to  receive  from  the  Divine 
Father  the  ideal  conception  of  the  created  person,  while  the  human 
father  is  still  in  the  limbo  of  having  received  himself  earlier,  but  not 
proving  competent  to  see  into  himself  so  as  to  collect  himself  and 
make  himself  at  home.  The  man  as  the  a  priori  member  is  becom¬ 
ing  better  established  since  the  educated  woman  discerns  in  him  po¬ 
tential  modes  of  his  maphood  which  had  never  been  appreciated  or 
actualized.  The  great  Abraham  of  our  humanity  whose  offspring 
are  destined  to  perfect  the  intelligent  Christianity  of  the  race,  must 
wait  for  his  Isaac  until  the  ideal  son  shall  be  claimed  by  the  righdy 
educated  mother. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WO  MAE. 


243 


Each  birth  into  a  new  movement  of  race  civilization  is  achieved 
by  its  own  transition  genius,  a  parent  spirit  formed  in  prophetic 
conception  by  the  evolving  word  of  life,  then  consecrated  to  the 
fulfilment  of  the  ideal  embodiment  which  his  creative  imagination 
reveals.  The  new  civilization  arising  from  the  discovery  of  the 
mental  power  and  personal  function  of  the  woman  could  not  come 
into  actual  reality  except  through  a  parent  genius.  If  you  question 
the  genius  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  his  offspring  you  may  find  him 
too  intent  in  the  exertion  of  his  creative  effort  to  tell  what  he  means 
in  it.  It  is  a  word  of  the  ideal  life  pressing  into  external  manifesta¬ 
tion,  seeking  to  inform  humanity  through  him.  This  pressing  drama 
of  humanity  commands  attention  and  executive  effort  so  intense  as  to 
forbid  him  to  also  serve  as  the  interpreter  of  his  work.  The  history 
of  the  establishing  of  Wellesley  College  manifests  very  clearly  the 
originality  of  the  creative  genius.  From  the  man  collecting  his 
great  powers  out  of  the  overwhelming  flood  of  anguish  in  the  loss  of 
his  only  son,  to  father  an  enterprise  for  educating  the  generations  of 
youth  among  whom  his  ambition  anticipating  his  son’s  manhood  had 
been  walking  as  a  commanding  ideal,  I  derive  a  new  reverence  for 
human  fatherhood.  Its  strong  immortal  reality  developed  in 
Henry  Fowle  Durant  the  filial  response  for  which  the  Father  of 
Fathers  had  all  through  his  years  before,  called  in  vain.  The  regen¬ 
eration  in  answer  to  the  strong  crying  of  the  bereaved  father, 
was  promptly  manifested  in  power  to  adopt  the  youth  of  his  time 
with  amazing  tenderness  and  wisdom.  His  impartial  mind  at  first 
proposed  a  two-fold  scheme,  intending  a  school  for  boys  and  a  school 
for  girls;  but  as  he  persistently  thought  out  the  influences  leading  to 
ideal  scholarship,  the  delicate  luminous  lines  of  education  due  to  true 
teaching  by  women  claimed  his  consideration  in  a  new  aspect.  His 
penetrating,  comprehending,  prophetic  imagination  searched  the 
problem  of  developing  life  till  he  had  interpreted  the  highest  reality 
of  woman’s  function  in  human  institutions.  The  scholarly  woman 
who  led  him  in  early  boyhood  to  aim  for  high  attainments  through 
her  teaching  him  Greek  with  the  home  cheer,  while  she  tended  her 
babe  and  shelled  the  peas  for  dinner,  now  represented  a  leading 
truth  in  his  drama  of  human  educators.  In  the  influence  of  his 
own  mother  and  his  own  wife  he  recognized  a  conceiving  of  the 


244 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


possibilities  in  his  constitution  continually  in  advance  of  his  achieve¬ 
ment,  providing  for  his  hungers,  while  serving  as  a  constant  incen¬ 
tive,  attending  his  efforts  with  sustaining  appreciation  and  cheering 
hope.  Hence  he  determined  to  devote  his  whole  fortune  to  securing 
the  highest  educational  opportunities  for  women,  in  order  to  provide 
the  influence  most  needed  by  both  boys  and  girls. 

So  far  as  a  true  ideal  has  achieved  its  fitting  embodiment,  it  im¬ 
presses  the  heirs  of  the  life  as  that  inevitable  beautiful  good  that  is  too 
good  not  to  come  true.  The  highest  aspect  of  Wellesley  College  thus 
impresses  those  who  discern  the  vigorous  progressive  life,  which  like 
the  voice  of  King  Arthur  “  cheering  with  large,  divine,  and  com¬ 
fortable  words  ”  enlists  for  noble  endeavor  each  student  whom  the 
critical  questioner  at  the  gates  has  passed  to  her  seat  at  the  “table 
round.’’  The  Bible  placed  first  among  the  text-books  required  for 
liberal  training  illumines  with  higher  information  the  crude  conclu¬ 
sions  of  mere  sense  observation.  The  broad  revelation  of  the  des¬ 
tiny  intended  by  the  Creator  for  the  developing  race,  in  contrast 
with  the  varied  lines  of  degeneracy,  becomes  a  clear  comprehension 
of  the  universal  inheritance.  In  the  light  of  a  scholarly  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptural  view  of  man,  the  problems  of  Plato  and  the  types  of 
Shakespeare  become  intelligible.  Our  persevering  investigations  in 
the  laboratories  of  science  press  foward  with  living  interest  since  the 
Infinite  Mathematician  who  numbers  the  stars  and  has  traced  their 
true  orbits  may  be  identified  with  the  Lord  of  life  revealed  in  the 
evolution  of  the  fitting  embodiment  for  the  spirit  of  beauty,  through 
all  the  progressive  forms  that  prophesy  its  ideal  of  delight. 

The  nature  of  the  earth  fields  and  ermnences  upon  which  the  col¬ 
lege  buildings  are  established  seem  as  if  formed  on  purpose  to  pro¬ 
vide  the  seclusion  and  refreshing  elements  most  favorable  to  energetic 
and  tranquil  thinking.  From  the  main  building  in  which  the  busy 
life  has  its  centre  ten  minute’s  walking  eastward  through  a  grove  of 
the  tall  forest  trees  leads  past  the  music  building  and  up  the  hill  to 
Stone  Hall.  The  well-equipped  laboratories  of  the  department  of 
botany  and  the  home  accommodations  for  i  io  persons  are  in  this  hall. 
On  the  hill  northward  from  the  central  hall  the  art  building  fronts  the 
main  avenue  while  a  circular  drive  about  the  summit  leads  to  three 
cottages  for  teachers  and  students  dwelling  together.  The  outlook 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


245 


over  Waban  Waters  from  that  central  hill  crowned  by  College  Hall 
discovers  the  light  of  the  days  and  of  the  nights  reflected  in  great 
variations  and  harmonies.  The  400  acres  of  the  college  park  invite 
the  Wellesley  daughters  to  become  at  home  in  out-of-door  observing 
and  thinking.  F ourteen  distinct  variations  presenting  the  violet  idea  in 
nature  have  been  found  by  one  young  initiate  in  the  ways  of  plant 
formation,  while  the  eager  Diana  interested  in  bird  meanings  may 
find  seventy  or  eighty  species  without  pursuing  the  hunt  beyond  the 
park  limits.  The  thinking  into  the  problems  of  geology  and  astron¬ 
omy  is  more  intelligent  and  interesting  to  minds  whose  daily  experi¬ 
ence  feels  the  intangible  certainty  of  the  sky  changes  and  tangible 
uncertainty  of  the  rocks  and  sands  of  Waban  shallows  repeatedly 
proved  by  scientific  oars  yet  never  serving  towards  important  conclu¬ 
sions  to  assist  in  practical  navigation.  The  great  laws  of  progress 
distinguished  from  the  little  accidents  of  surface  irregularity  are 
traced  as  clear  lines  of  logic  through  such  daily  impressions.  The 
observation  in  the  laboratories  of  science  is  guarded  against  the  mis¬ 
apprehensions  that  may  be  derived  from  devitalized  fragments,  by 
those  whom  Nature  in  familiar  sympathy  has  taught 

“To  rise  in  science  as  in  bliss. 

Initiate  in  the  secret  of  the  skies.’ 

For  persons  environed  with  such  conditions  providing  inspiriting 
liberty  for  mind  and  body,  the  wisdom  in  authority  with  ready 
sympathy  in  counsel  which  every  student  for  her  individual  need  may 
claim  from  President  Shafer,  and  the  instruction  offered  by  the  corps 
of  seventy  scholarly  women  who  consdtute  the  faculty,  avail  for 
rapid  progress  and  scholarly  discipline  and  information.  The  gener¬ 
ously  endowed  library,  now  numbering  about  40,000  volumes,  be¬ 
comes  to  each  the  reality  of  an  inexhaustable  inheritance  to  be 
claimed  by  wise  diligence  and  discrimination.  In  each  course  of 
study  the  books  which  may  assist  and  extend  the  student’s  compre¬ 
hension  of  the  theme  are  indicated  by  library  references.  Teachers 
and  pupils  together  investigate  the  progressive  thought  and  life  daily 
announced  through  varied  forms  of  publication. 

From  the  earliest  days  the  great  ideals  of  beauty  have  attended 
the  Wellesley  doings  impressed  by  the  pictures  and  statues  placed 


246 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Durant  in  College  Hall.  The  visitor  naturally 
infers  that  the  institution  must  be  well  endowed  since  it  is  fur¬ 
nished  with  such  beautiful  reproductions  from  the  great  masters 
and  even  with  some  originals  from  eminent  artists.  There  are  many 
important  things  that  assist  in  college  prose  which  Wellesley  must 
wait  for  until  her  achievements  shall  command  attention  to  her  needs. 
But  prosaic  economies  can  be  turned  into  educational  advantages  by 
those  whose  imagination  has  been  endowed  with  the  great  representa¬ 
tions  of  life  in  its  beauty.  The  wisdom  of  the  founders  of  Wellesley, 
in  providing  such  fine  inspirations  for  poetic  life  will  serve  against  de¬ 
pression  of  spirit  as  the  wise  angel  served,  who  sat  at  the  city  gate 
entrusted  with  bread  and  roses  to  be  distributed  to  relieve  the  needs 
of  the  multitude.  Those  who  received  bread  thanked  him  and  ate  his 
gift,  but  to  every  heavily  burdened  one  he  gave  the  rose,  and  those 
loved  him  for  it  and  kept  it,  forgetting  their  hunger  in  the  joy  of 
beauty  which  is  the  home  feeling  of  the  soul.  So  the  Wellesley  women 
hold  the  ideal  of  its  founder,  embodied  in  the  beautiful  gifts  in  which 
it  is  expressed.  It  is  a  permanent  courage  against  the  disheartening 
masses  of  crude  stuff  which  burden  the  majority  of  those  who  will- 
share  the  world’s  toil.  “The  College  Beautiful”  will  continually 
lead  to  the  great  word  of  beauty  in  nature,  and  in  every  field  the 
educated  imagination  can  claim  that  inspiration. 

Among  the  7,000  who  have  in  her  eighteen  years  been  enrolled 
upon  the  college  list,  very  few  can  be  counted  as  recreants  disregard¬ 
ing  her  ideals.  Nine  hundred  and  sixty  have  attained  to  her  bache¬ 
lor’s  degree;  twenty-four  have  advanced  to  claim  her  master’s 
degree.  The  influence  of  these  well  informed  young  women  assum¬ 
ing  the  dignity  and  delight  of  fulfilling  each  her  individual  calling  is 
already  felt  in  every  quarter  of  the  world.  There  are  no  happier 
homes  than  those  in  which  these  are  striving  to  fulfill  their  highest 
possibilities,  while  rejoicing  in  the  real  experience  of  a  clear  calling 
in  the  life  everlasting. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


AN  AMERICAN  QUEEN. 

BY  GAIL  HAMILTON.* 

Copyright,  1886,  by  Allen  Thorndike  Rice;  reprinted  by  special  permission  from  the  North 
American  Review  and  the  author. 

MANY  years  ago  the  hero  of  one  of  our  native  novels  was  sent 
on  a  long  quest  among  the  European  nobility,  to  ascertain 
whether  there  be  any  real  difference  between  the  blood  of  an  heredi¬ 
tary  aristocracy  and  the  blood  of  American  democracy. 

I  approach  the  same  problem,  but  from  a  different  direction.  I 
present  herein  a  specimen  of  American  aristocracy,  and  if  the  prin¬ 
cesses  and  duchesses  and  countesses  of  the  world  would  like  to  know 
whether  they  are  of  the  true  blood  royal,  they  are  cordially  invited 
to  examine  these  pages  and  ascertain  for  themselves  by  a  careful 
comparison  with  the  best  standards. 

The  question  is  not  insignificant.  Aristocracy  is  inevitable. 
Wherever  humanity  gathers  into  society,  an  aristocracy  rises  to  the 
surface  as  surely  as  cream  rises  on  milk. 

And — not  to  continue  the  figure  which  might  be  awkward — the 
character  of  the  aristocracy  is  at  once  determined  by  and  determi¬ 
native  of  the  character  of  the  democracy  out  of  which  it  springs. 
An  aristocracy  is  the  embodiment  of  the  ideal  of  society.  While  life 
is  first  emerging  from  its  lower  forms,  physical  strength,  being  its 
most  available  weapon,  becomes  its  crowning  glory.  Our  race  still 
rising,  lower  phases  of  intellectual  strength  become  dominant.  In 
perfected  development  the  spiritual  forces  will  rule.  We  may  thus 
always  measure  the  advance  of  civilization  by  the  qualities  that  are 
held  in  honor;  therefore,  to  the  classes  and  the  masses;  to  the 

♦Author  of  “  Gala  Days,”  ‘Battle  of  the  Books,”  “A  Washington  Bible  Class,”  etc. 


2J.S 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


defenders  of  the  old  and  the  apostles  of  the  new;  to  those  who  are  pry¬ 
ing  open  college  doors  to  women  and  those  who  are  striving  to  turn 
the  feet  of  girls  away  from  them;  to  the  enthusiastic  founders  of 
woman’s  colleges,  and  to  all  machinists  who  think  the  only  good 
timber  of  which  schools  can  be  made  is  supervising  boards;  to  those 
who  advocate  and  those  who  fear  woman  suffrage;  to  the  great  rati 
of  men  who  think  they  believe  only  in  woman’s  frivolity,  and  to  the 
great  hosts  of  women  who  try  sedulously  to  live  up  to  it, — let  me  ex¬ 
tend  the  invitation  of  Moses,  the  sen-ant  of  God,  to  Hobab,  the  son 
of  Raguel,  the  Midianite:  “  Come  thou  with  me  and  I  will  do  thee 
good.” 

The  palace  in  which  was  born  her  majesty,  the  queen  whom  I 
celebrate,  was  a  brown,  one-story  house,  in  the  hill-town  of  Nor¬ 
folk,  Conn.,  overlooking  a  wide  stretch  of  slope  and  dale,  rush¬ 
ing  stream  and  silent  pond,  and  many  a  palace  of  equally  subtle 
splendor — for  royal  blood  ran  freely  thereabout.  Wealth  did 
not  attract  the  ambition  or  even  the  attention  of  these  royal 
families.  Independence  they  were  born  to,  and  virtue;  but  learn¬ 
ing  must  each  gather  for  himself,  with  the  usefulness  accruing, 
and  what  they  loved  and  hungered  and  thirsted  for  was  learn¬ 
ing.  Of  the  two  families  most  nearly  allied  to  the  Queen,  and 
amid  equally  simple  surroundings,  six  sons  were  graduated  from 
Yale  College,  and  all  the  daughters  but  one  were  sent  away  to  the 
highest  accessible  schools. 

The  royal  father,  powerful  in  brain  and  muscle,  was  instandy  killed 
by  the  fall  of  his  own  well-sweep  when  his  child  was  but  two  years 
old.  The  royal  mother  was  a  quiet  woman,  untiring  in  work  and 
wisdom  and  love;  a  woman  who  could  repeat  the  whole  of  Dwight’s 
“  Collection  ofHyms;”  who  in  spinning  kept  always  an  open  book 
at  the  head  of  her  wheel,  in  ironing,  one  upon  her  table.  So  the 
daughter  of  Joel  Grant  and  Zilpah  Cowles  could  hardly  fail  to  rise 
and  rule. 

Second  only  in  importance  to  the  hardy,  upright,  intellectual 
home,  came  the  wholesome  village  school.  Without  globe,  black¬ 
board,  or  supervision,  without  register,  or  gradation,  or  mark,  with¬ 
out  exhibition,  sometimes  without  examination  or  even  recitation, 
the  “district  school,”  did  a  great  work,  because  it  had  the  two 


249 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 

t 

things  indispensable  to  a  school — teachers  and  pupils — teachers  wise 
to  teach,  pupils  eager  to  learn. 

The  district  school  Queen  Zilpah  left  as  pupil  and  entered  as 
teacher  while  not  yet  fifteen.  The  first  palace  of  her  independent 
sovereignity  was  a  log-cabin  in  the  Indian  district  of  Paug.  It  was 
furnished  with  one  door,  one  unhewn  stone  chimney,  four  small  half¬ 
sash  windows,  and  a  dungeon-hole  for  the  refractory.  In  summers, 
she  taught  Paug  schools.  In  winters,  she  read  and  spun  by  her 
mother’s  side. 

Thus  walked,  the  Queen  in  those  early  days;  youthful  but  noble,  a 
figure  tall,  erect,  well-proportioned  head,  finely  set  on  shapely 
shoulders,  dark  hair  golden-brown,  forehead  high,  features  comely, 
piercing  black  eyes,  luminous  with  life,  an  expression  combined  of 
kindness,  dignity  and  power,  a  composed  and  stately  carriage,  the 
dress  always  beseeming  such  a  wearer,  who  bore  ever  and  every¬ 
where  her  long  life  through  the  indefinable  air  of  distinction.  Thus 
lavishly  her  royal  blood  endowed  her.  But  let  no  vain  American 
fancy  that  royal  blood  must  always  give  the  royal  height,  the  regal 
figure.  It  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  Queen  Victoria  that,  with  much 
to  fight  against  in  the  way  of  native  dower,  she  bears  intact  the 
majesty  of  her  birthright,  and  stirs  in  all  beholders  the  consciousness 
of  imperial  presence. 

Come  now,  I  pray,  Matthew  Arnold,  gentlest  and  keenest  of 
satirists  who  value  but  do  not  love  the  Puritans,  and  hear  me  while  I 
admit,  I  avow,  that  my  Queen  was  a  Puritan.  Such  a  Puritan  as 
this:  that  when  she  was  only  five  years  old,  pangs  of  conscience 
wrung  her  because  she  had  chosen  not  to  go  to  an  afternoon  meeting 
with  her  mother.  Such  a  Puritan  as  this:  that  at  twelve,  she  had 
great  solicitude  regarding  her  guilt  in  the  violation  of  perfect  law. 
Such  a  Puritan  as  that  when  it  was  represented  to  her  that  the  little 
neighborhood  gatheringsof  the  young  people  in  each  other’s  houses, 
closing  the  evening  with  a  dance,  would  be  inconsistent  for  one 
“  seeking  religion,  ”  she  at  once  gave  up  the  dancing  of  which  she 
was  fond.  Such  a  Puritan,  that  her  sense  of  sin  was  overpowering; 
she  expected  to  sink  by  its  weight  to  perdition;  she  felt  that  her  guilt 
was  too  great  to  be  forgiven;  she  sought  aid  from  her  pastor  only 
because,  in  the  world  of  woe  to  which  she  believed  herself  to  be 


250 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


hastening,  she  would  be  spared  the  additional  pang  of  reflecting  that, 
during  her  probation  on  earth,  she  had  failed  to  ask  the  prayers  of 
one  who  had  power  to  prevail  with  God. 

Matthew  Arnold,  clearest  and  straightest  of  thinkers — up  to  a 
certain  point — you  cannot  think  this  any  more  dreadful  than  it  is. 
Innocent  child,  spotless  maiden,  beneficent  woman,  guilt,  probation, 
perdition  are  grotesque  words  applied  to  her.  Nearer  the  truth  of 
things  was  that  vivacious  French  wife  of  a  strict  Calvinistic  pastor, 
who,  kindly  visiting,  during  her  husband’s  absence,  a  dying  parish¬ 
ioner,  a  poor  seamstress,  listened  with  astonishment  to  the  distress  of 
the  sufferer  over  her  sins,  and  presently  broke  out  with  the  untheo- 
logical  but  eminently  humane  and  pertinent  argument,  “A  great 
sinner!  It  is  absurd!  Why,  you  were  never  out  of  North  Line- 
brook  jn  your  life!  ”  But  we  judge  a  tree  by  the  fruit  it  ripens,  not 
by  that  which  is  cast  almost  as  soon  as  set.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine 
by  what  process  so  clear  a  mind  could  reconcile  itself  to  God  on  the 
sudden  plea,  “  ‘  How  beautiful  is  that  justice  which  has  denied 
peace  to  such  a  sinner!  ’  I  became  absorbed  in  the  admiration 
of  God’s  justice.  It  was  infinitely  lovely,  and  I  must  forever 
praise  Him  in  the  world  of  retribution  for  not  receiving  so  vile 
a  being  into  the  abode  of  purity  and  bliss.”  To  me,  I  confess 
this  seems  hocus-pocus,  abracadabra.  But  it  is  not  hard  to  under¬ 
stand  and  reverence  the  royal  delicacy,  or  was  it  the  Christian 
unselfishness,  or  was  it  both,  mingled  with  the  grim  Grant  reticence 
which  an  illustrious  example  has  made  familiar  to  this  generation, 
that  led  her,  when  at  length,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  she  dared  join 
the  church,  to  stand  up  and  receive,  out  of  deference  to  her  mother’s 
supposed  preference,  the  baptismal  name  of  Zilpah  Polly,  without 
even  mentioning  her  own  wish  to  be  called  Mary — only  to  learn  long 
afterward  that  her  mother  was  quite  indifferent!  Zilpah  Polly — 
nothing  can  give  it  a  monarchical  ring,  but  it  never  marred  the  royal 
audience. 

When  she  was  twenty-five  years  old,  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson 
opened  a  girls’  school  in  Byfield,  Massachusetts.  It  was  a  new 
thing  under  the  sun.  Mr.  Emerson  had  been  tutor  at  Harvard, 
pastor  at  Beverly.  Some  divine  revelation  had  given  him  a  glimpse 
of  the  ideal  woman  in  the  ideal  world,  and  thenceforth  he  knew  his 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


251 


work.  Queen  Zilpah  had  met  him.  He  was  a  brother  of  one  of 
her  own  pastors,  Ralph  Emerson.  This  lover’s  gifts  to  his  betrothed 
had  been  a  Bible  and  a  Euclid’s  Geometry — sweet  food  of  sweetly 
uttered  knowledge.  He  was  a  man  after  our  queen’s  own  heart. 
She  craved  knowledge.  In  her  Paug  and  other  school-houses  she 
had  amassed  a  fortune  of  fifty  dollars,  and  she  took  the  three 
day’s  journey  to  Byfield,  and  enrolled  herself  among  his  pupils. 
Her  fortune  was  well  invested.  Teacher  and  pupil  were  alike 
inspired  with  the  enthusiasm  of  learning,  and  believed  profoundly 
in  each  other.  Here,  too,  she  met  that  other  ‘  ‘  Large-brained 
woman  and  large-hearted  man,”  Mary  Lyon,  and  the  three 
entered  into  life-long  friend-and-comradeship.  ‘‘Has  the  woman 
nothing  to  do  but  to  obey  ?  ’  ’  asked  of  his  pupils  this  man  with 
the  Emerson  insight.  ‘‘Woman  has  far  more  of  commanding  than 
of  obeying  to  do.”  And  he  lent  himself  to  the  divine  purpose  of 
teaching  the  queens  to  command  wisely.  “Women  are  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  society,”  he  said.  “They  need  sound  judgment,  energy, 
and  vigor.”  “Logic,”  he  taught  them,  in  words  that  should  be 
hung  in  golden  capitals  on  every  school-room  wall;  “the  art  of 
using  reason  well,  is  the  parent  of  all  other  arts.  ”  “  Even  in  so 

simple  a  thing  as  cutting  a  pencil  I  would  have  you  exercise  your 
reasoning  powers.” 

With  Mr.  Emerson’s  school  the  queen’s  pupilage  nobly  closed. 
Then  she  entered  upon  the  full  duties  of  her  kingdom.  Teaching 
awhile  with  Mr.  Emerson,  afterward  at  the  head  of  her  own  schools, 
summoning  Mary  Lyon  to  her  assistance,  or  dispatching  her  to  enter 
alone  the  promised  land  which  both  had  longed  for,  but  which  the 
feet  of  one  alone  could  tread,  her  intellectual  and  spiritual  elevation 
never  knew  descent.  She  did  not  talk  of  her  mission,  but  she  taught 
as  one  having  authority.  She  did  not  talk  of  her  rights;  she  exer¬ 
cised  them.  She  looked  upon  the  individual  woman  as  an  immortal 
being  to  be  trained  for  eternity  by  service  in  this  world.  She  looked 
upon  women  collectively  as  a  fundamental  part  of  the  State,  to  be 
trained  for  its  weal.  She  worked  for  the  commonwealth.  All  her 
aims  were  great.  Nothing  petty  ever  came  near  her.  Rather,  small 
things  were  enlarged  by  being  gathered  into  the  upward  movement 
of  a  large  soul.  “Do  you  not  know  child,”  she  would  argue  the 


252 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


duty  of  dressing  prettily,  “  God  is  more  honored  and  pleased  when 
His  creatures  look  well  than  when  they  do  not?  ”  She  held  ever  in 
view  the  arbitrament  of  God. 

Never  was  the  watchword  of  her  teaching  to  furnish  occupations 
to  women,  but  to  prepare  women  for  their  work1  Her  keen  percep¬ 
tion  saw  the  whitening,  waiting  harvests,  and  no  man  ever  thrust  in 
a  sharper  sickle  with  a  stronger  hand,  but  it  was  a  woman’s  sickle 
and  a  woman’s  strength.  She  taught  her  pupils  not  so  much  know¬ 
ledge  as  how  to  learn.  She  gave  no  prizes.  She  stimulated  no 
rivalry.  She  appealed  only  to  the  highest  motives.  The  formation 
of  character,  the  attainment  of  the  greatest  possible  individual  power, 
the  thorough  acquirement  of  self-government — these  were  what  she 
set  before  her  pupils.  Her  simple  test  for  each  was:  Is  she  doing  as 
well  as  she  can  ? 

Her  final  sentence  upon  the  incorrigible  was:  You  have  not  been 
doing  as  well  as  you  can.  And  they  were  sent  away  upon  that  one 
statement,  with  the  avowed  hope  that  after  six  months  or  a  year  of 
absence  they  might  rise  high  enough  to  return  and  spend  their  ener¬ 
gies  to  advantage.  All  was  done  privately;  every  unnecessary  ex¬ 
posure  of  the  faults  of  her  pupils  was  avoided.  She  guarded  their 
delicacy  with  vigilance.  “Speak  of  them  as  if  they  were  your 
younger  sisters,’’  she  directed  her  new  teachers. 

The  lessons  in  reason  which  she  had  received  from  her  teacher  she 
faithfully  delivered  to  her  pupils.  No  Thomas  Paine,  no  Red  Rev¬ 
olutionist,  was  ever  so  true  a  devotee  of  reason  as  she.  If  but  a  new 
regulation  were  to  be  made,  she  not  only  announced  and  explained 
it,  but  grounded  it  upon  the  principle  eternally  true,  that  “when 
people  come  into  society  each  one  must  give  up  somewhat  of  his 
natural  rights  and  consult  the  general  good.”  Thus  her  pupils 
learned  an  intelligent  respect  for  law.  Charity,  benevolence,  bene¬ 
ficence,  she  taught  as  she  would  teach  geography — systematically, 
not  alone  as  a  matter  of  feeding  the  hungry,  but  of  elevating  the 
world.  She  aimed  to  awaken  in  every  girl  a  feeling  of  individual 
responsibility  for  serving  her  generation.  Patriotism  was  a  constant 
underlying  motive.  She  saw  that  the  country  was  large,  and  she 
worked  to  make  it  great.  She  saw  that  the  West  was  to  be  the  cen¬ 
tre  of  empire,  and  she  sought  to  make  its  foundations  strong.  She 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


253 


discerned  that  a  religious  intellectual  education  was  the  one  thing 
needful.  She  knew,  as  few  women  know — as  few  men  know — 
the  power  of  organization.  She  saw  it  in  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
she  desired  as  strong  a  Protestant  organization  for  the  utilizing  of 
womanly  power.  Necessary  to  this,  she  held,  were  schools  endowed, 
permanent,  giving  a  systematic  and  severe  education  for  girls  as  well 
as  for  boys.  To  this  end  she  bent  all  her  energies.  Awaiting  this 
end,  she  gave  especial  attention  to  training  teachers.  She  held  the 
profession  high,  but  she  demanded  that  it  be  worthy  to  be  held  high. 
In  looking  about  for  the  location  of  a  school,  she  observed  of  a  cer¬ 
tain  town,  “It  is  the  only  place  in  Ohio,  off  the  Reserve,  that  I  have 
seen  or  heard  of,  where  the  employment  of  teaching  takes  anything 
like  its  proper  rank.  I  heard  a  lady,  who  justly  ranks  high  for 
intelligence,  refinement  and  social  standing,  and  who  hopes,  too, 
that  she  is  a  Christian,  remark  of  a  young  woman  who  left  her  home, 
where  she  had  lived  in  comparative  inaction  and  uselessness,  to  en¬ 
gage  in  school:  ‘  That  is  really  a  great  coming  down  for  her;  she 
she  has  been  quite  a  belle.  ’  It  is  a  specimen  of  a  feeling  greatly  prev¬ 
alent  throughout  this  and  the  surrounding  States.  So  far  as  I  can 
learn,  nothing  apparent  has  been  effected  to  correct  this  sentiment  by 
other  schools.”  So  aware  was  she  of  the  value  of  the  living  soul, 
that  she  counted  nothing  trivial  which  related  to  it.  She  required  as 
much  mind,  she  demanded  as  much  judgment,  in  teaching  an  infant 
school  as  in  addressing  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  She  laid 
the  foundation  stones  along  the  line  of  reason.  The  first  legacy  ever 
left  for  the  academic  education  of  women  had  been  received  at 
Derry,  N.  H.  The  Trustees  had  built  a  new  house  and  invited  Miss 
Grant  to  be  the  principal  of  the  new  school.  By  their  invitation  she 
went  to  Derry  and  spent  six  weeks  investigating  plans  and  possibilities. 
She  avowed  frankly  to  the  trustees  that  her  aim  was  not  only  intel¬ 
lectual  education;  but  the  training  of  the  character  according  to  the 
Word  of  God.  They  saw  everything  to  desire  in  her  complete  mas¬ 
tery  of  the  situation,  and  in  her  gracious  and  gentle  fascination;  and 
the  first  head  of  the  first  college  for  women  in  America  was  formally 
installed  in  a  document  whose  significance  is  only  heightened  by  the 
simplicity  and  modesty  of  the  terms  under  its  legal  formality: 

‘‘To  Miss  Zilpah  P.  Grant: — The  Trustees  of  the  Adams  Female 


254 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Academy,  reposing  especial  trust  and  confidence  in  your  fidelity  and 
ability,  have  constituted  and  appointed  you  the  preceptress  of  the 
Adams  Female  Academy,  hereby  giving  and  granting  unto  you,  the 
said  Zilpah  P.  Grant,  all  the  powers  and  authority  given  and  granted 
by  the  Act  of  Incorporation  and  By-laws  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Adams 
Female  Academy,  to  have  and  to  hold  the  said  office,  with  all  the 
powers  and  privileges  and  immunities  to  the  same  belonging,  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  Trustees,  with  the  compensation  of five  dollars  for 
each  week  the  academy  shall  be  kept  during  the  year,  and  board 
during  the  same  time,  and  thirty-six  dollars  each  year  for  traveling 
expenses.  In  TESTIMONY  WHEREOF,  the  Trustees  have  caused 
the  seal  of  said  corporation  to  be  hereunto  affixed.  Witness,  Edward 
L.  Parker,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  this  eighteenth  day  of 
November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twenty- three.  ” 

Vassar,  Wellesley,  Smith  and  all  your  heirs,  successors  and 
enemies  forever — never  forget  that  the  first  president  of  the  first 
college  for  women  was  a  woman,  and  that  she  wrought  in  the  love  of 
God  according  to  the  straitest  sect  of  old-fashioned  calvinistic 
orthodoxy.  At  her  academy  were  given  the  first  diplomas  to  girls. 
Miss  Grant,  aided  by  Miss  Lyon,  opened  at  Derry  the  first  girl’s 
school  in  this  country,  prescribing  a  systematic  course  of  English 
instruction  similar  to  that  of  boys  examining  for  admission,  and  giving 
a  diploma  for  its  completion,  and  each  year  the  course  was  extended 
and  elevated.  So  deftly  works  the  power  outside  ourselves  that 
makes  for  righteousness. 

Miss  Grant’s  success  was  great — too  great.  The  superior  intel¬ 
lectual  training  attracted  to  her  school  increasing  attention  and  in¬ 
creasing  numbers  from  the  best  families.  Her  commanding  intellect, 
her  polished  and  winning  manners  gave  her  complete  and  easy  sway 
over  the  fresh,  noble  young  minds  that  flocked  to  her.  But  religion 
dominated  everything,  and  her  religion  was  orthodox.  The  majority 
of  the  trustees  were  liberal.  This  astonishing  autocrat  was  stamping 
the  image  and  superscription  of  orthodoxy  on  the  mind  and  heart  of 
the  whole  rising  generation.  True,  she  had  said  she  would  do  it, 
and  they  had  consented.  She  had  stipulated  at  the  outset  that  one- 
seventh  of  her  time  should  be  given  to  Bible  instruction,  and  they 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


255 


had  not  objected.  But  they  little  knew  what  Bible  instruction  meant 
from  her  lips.  They  had  been  used  to  hearing  Bible  instruction  one- 
seventh  of  the  time  all  their  lives,  and  nobody  hurt;  but  this  Bible 
instruction  was  like  the  coming  of  an  army  with  banners.  The 
Bible,  real,  living,  touching  every  issue,  guiding  every  judgment, 
turning  orthdoxy  from  a  dead  skeleton  to  a  beautiful,  vital,  eternal 
force— this  they  had  not  bargained  for.  They  felt  that  they  were 
being  overpowered  by  the  very  one  whom  they  had  bidden  as  an 
ally. 

Doubtless  they  were  upright,  gentle,  pious  men,  but  they  were 
men  and  naturally  timid,  weak,  at  their  wit’s  end  before  this  female 
sovereign.  But  their  money  was  a  trust  fund,  therefore  they  must 
do  something.  Therefore  they  made  a  weak  little  insurrectionary 
flutter  by  suggesting  at  their  annual  meeting  that  music  and  dancing 
be  introduced  into  the  course!  Even  this  feeble  shot  frightened  them, 
and  they  instantly  fled  to  cover  by  resolving  three  days  after,  that 
Miss  Grant’s  salary  should  be  doubled. 

The  queen  declined  the  dance  simply  on  the  ground  that  ‘  ‘  as  she 
had  a  systematic  course,  and  all  parents  would  not  wish  their  children 
to  learn  to  dance,  the  introduction  of  the  exercise  would  greatly 
derange  her  plans.” 

Then  the  committee  plucked  up  heart,  though  still  an  indirect 
heart,  and  voted  “that  no  teachers  were  engaged.”  Willing  to 
believe  that  her  exceptionally  large  salary  was  the  stumbling-block, 
and  eager  to  carry  out  her  plans,  she  at  once  offered  to  relinquish 
her  salary  and  to  take  whatever  they  chose  to  give.  Then  as  frankly 
as  they  could,  but  still  in  a  private  circular,  they  ventured  to  declare 
that  “  it  was  the  original  design  of  the  trustees  to  establish  this  sem¬ 
inary  on  liberal  principles.  They  regret  that  the  institution  has 
acquired  the  character  of  being  strictly  calvinistic  in  the  religious 
instruction.  This  character  has  grown  up  in  opposition  to  the  senti¬ 
ments  and  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  trustees.  It  is  their  determin¬ 
ation  to  select  persons  who  will  not  attempt  to  instil  into  the  minds 
of  their  pupils  the  peculiar  tenets  of  any  denomination  of  Christians, 
but  will  give  that  general  instruction  wherein  all  Christians  agree. 
The  trustees  give  their  preference  to  female  teachers,  if  such  as  are 
competent  can  be  obtained;  if  not,  a  gentleman  must  be  employed.” 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


256 


Thereupon  the  queen  took  stage  to  consult  Urim  and  Thummim, 
but  behind  Urim  and  Thummim  was  merely  a  man,  and  the  sacred 
breastplate  only  rattled  with  his  terrified  palpitations,  but  emitted  no 
light.  “Even  Gamaliel,”  said  the  queen  with  one  of  her  rare 
touches  of  sarcasm,  “  even  Gamaliel  was  afraid  to  give  direct  counsel, 
and  found  it  much  easier  to  sympathize  than  to  advise.” 

She  needed  no  advice,  and  evidently  took  counsel  with  her  sub¬ 
alterns  only  as  queen  use — for  good  fellowship  rather  than  from  any 
expectation  or  need  of  real  help,  for  she  seems  not  for  a  moment  to 
have  been  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  She  colonized.  She  withdrew  and 
took  her  kingdom  with  her.  Forty  pupils,  steadfast  and  true,  ac¬ 
companied  her  in  search  of  other  worlds  to  conquer.  Whether 
the  Derry  trustees  ever  found  their  “gentleman,”  history  does  not 
inform  us.  What  it  does  inform  us  is  that  they  soon  discovered  they 
had  lost  a  “female,”  and  in  two  years  they  were  at  her  feet  again 
beseeching  her  to  reign  over  them.  Their  very  first  article  of  ca¬ 
pitulation  was:  “Miss  Grant  to  take  charge  of  and  manage  the 
academy  in  her  own  way.”  But  Miss  Grant  had  already  established 
herself  in  her  own  way  elsewhere  too  firmly  to  return  to  them. 

If  she  had  remained  in  the  house  of  bondage  where  her  first  agony 
was  endured,  the  fears  of  the  trustees  might  have  been  well  based. 
But  not  in  vain  had  she  listened  to  the  divine  voice  of  conscience 
and  followed  the  divine  light  of  reason — that  true  light  which  light- 
eth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.  Guilt,  probation,  per¬ 
dition,  disappeared  with  her  early  womanhood,  not  flung  off  but  lived 
above.  No  such  motives  are  presented  in  her  teachings  to  her 
pupils.  The  greatness,  the  justice,  the  love  of  God,  the  paramount 
claims  of  rectitude,  the  imperiousness  of  moral  obligation,  the  bless¬ 
edness  of  living  for  others,  the  misery  of  living  for  self — this  was  the 
essence  of  her  matured  Calvanism.  Let  Liberalism  extirpate  such 
Calvanism  by  bringing  forth  better  fruit.  It  does  not  appear  that 
she  ever  in  terms,  or  to  her  own  consciousness,  changed  her  faith, 
rather  she  clung  to  it  to  her  latest  breath;  but  so  deep,  so  Catholic, 
so  Christian  was  her  nature  that  she  permanently  assimilated  only  the 
truth  of  error.  Her  luminous  intelligence  flowed  around  every 
narrow  dogma  and  widened  it  into  an  eternal  principle.  Her  superb 
power  of  loving  penetrated  all  hardness,  and  softened,  and  mellowed 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


257 


to  the  core,  releasing  its  hidden,  pure,  imprisoned  soul  of  sweetness. 
By  the  natural  growth  of  her  own  lofty  personality,  by  the  free  play 
of  her  noble  instincts,  she  divined  the  secret  of  heaven.  Whatever 
was  dark,  she,  by  adoption,  transmuted  into  light,  so  there  was 
never  any  revolution,  only  evolution.  No  epoch,  no  violent  change, 
but  the  full  assurance  of  a  sane  faith  by  the  full  activity  of  a  sane  life. 
She  pressed  her  pupils  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  not  for  their  own 
happiness,  not  to  escape  perdition,  not  because  probation  ends  at 
death,  but  because  the  requirements  of  God  are  reasonable;  because 
His  character  is  attractive;  because  His  service  is  perfect  freedom; 
because  to  do  right  and  to  bless  the  world  are  the  best  things.  To 
old  Ipswich,  then,  the  queen  betook  herself,  with  her  trusty  squire, 
Mary  Lyon,  and  her  forty  faithful  lovers,  a  devoted  trainband,  by 
whose  loyalty  her  school  was  established  as  soon  as  it  was  in  camp. 
And  here,  partly,  perhaps,  because  there  was  no  fund  to  impose  a 
responsibility  upon  any  committee,  partly  also,  probably,  because 
her  clientelage  was  orthodox  from  1634  down,  and  so  deeply  tinct 
with  wisdom,  she  wielded  a  sceptre  more  imperious  than  ever.  The 
community  fell  as  naturally  under  her  sway  as  if  it  had  waited  for  her 
coming.  Full  of  gentle  homes  slept  the  old  town  hard  by  the  sea, 
which  had  washed  into  many  a  wide-roomed,  low-roofed  cottage  the 
treasures  of  the  world — massive  teak-wood  chairs  and  tables  heavy 
and  hard  as  iron,  and  fretted  with  the  carving  of  patient  life-times, 
great  pieces  of  cloisonng,  brass-framed,  easel-mounted,  resting  in 
cloistered  corners  more  modestly  than  if  they  had  been  Prang’s 
chromos,  which  many  a  millionaire  longshoreman  would  have  plumed 
himself  on  sailing  around  the  world  to  fetch,  exquisite  little  decorated 
cups  with  tiny  covers,  which  Beacon  street  would  carefully  shield  in 
antique  cabinets  behind  glass  doors,  and  which  Ipswich  matrons — 
yes,  oh  shuddering  housewife! — -set  in  the  steamer  over  the  range  to 
steam  their  custards  in;  graven  images  and  man-high  jars,  and  gro¬ 
tesque  ornaments,  or  ever  bric-a-brac  was  invented.  Beautiful,  duti¬ 
ful,  gentle  women,  beneficent,  loyal,  gentle  men — true  gentlefolk  all 
— the  girls  came  to  Miss  Grant’s  school  and  she  ruled  them, 
and  the  mothers  wrought  at  home  and  she  ruled  them,  and  the 
fathers  went  in  and  out  of  shop  and  ship,  pulpit  and  farm  and  office, 
and  she  ruled  them  most  of  all,  for  they  were  under  female 


258 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


sovereignty  raised  to  the  third  power.  And  if  any  ever  so  much  as 
thought  resistance,  he  must  have  gone  down  into  his  cellar  and 
grumbled  it  out  alone,  for  light  of  day  never  saw,  nor  softest  breeze 
bore  vestige  of  restlessness  under  her  unwavering,  exhilarating, 
womanly,  sweet  dominion. 

So  founded  was  it  on  the  nature  of  things  that  it  penetrated  to  the 
will,  and  seemed  to  each  one  only  the  rule  of  the  highest  within  him¬ 
self.  In  all  the  region  roundabout  “Miss  Grant”  was  a  name  to 
conjure  by,  and  is  still  mighty  to  stir  up  pure  minds  by  way  of  re¬ 
membrance.  Her  wisdom  and  experience  retain  even  for  her 
memory  the  kingdom  which  her  insinuating  address,  her  dignified 
exterior,  her  polished  and  gracious  manners  captivated  at  the  first 
onset. 

Ten  years  she  ruled  at  Ipwich;  then  in  the  full  tide  of  success, 
without  a  chair  in  her  seminary  vacant,  or  an  available  boarding- 
place  unoccupied,  Miss  Grant  relinquished  her  school  because  of 
failing  health.  I  half  suspect  that  her  womanly  strength  was  veined 
with  one  masculine  weakness,  the  solemn  conviction  that  any  slight 
ailment  was  the  onset  of  deadly  disease.  Certainly  against  many 
solicitations  from  other  quarters,  and  with  great  grief  in  her  own 
heart,  she  resigned  forever  all  official  school  connections.  She  had 
held  steadily  in  view  her  plan  of  a  permanent  endowed  independent 
school,  but  its  actual  establishment  was  secured  to  her  long-time 
friend,  Mary  Lyon,  who,  on  Miss  Grant’s  plan,  and  with  her  con¬ 
tinued  and  hearty  co-operation,  at  length  reared  on  a  firm  foundation 
the  school  of  the  prophetesses  at  South  Hadley. 

But  Miss  Lyon  died  in  middle  life,  and  Miss  Grant — resting  for 
three  years  in  the  homes  of  welcoming  friends — lived  to  a  ripe  old 
age. 

If  now,  with  infinite  delicacy,  one  could  offer  a  moment’s  conso¬ 
lation  to  those  great-hearted  gendemen  who  from  time  to  time 
mourn  publicly  the  small  number  of  girl  graduates  that,  to  use 
their  own  elevated  diction,  “marry  off,”  perhaps  the  path  of 
education  might  be  smoothed.  Whatever  of  personal  attachments 
Miss  Grant  might  have  cherished,  or  whatever  of  courtesies  she 
might  have  received  from  men,  we  are  not  told.  A  missionary  is 
indeed  referred  to,  who,  in  her  very  young  life,  ‘  ‘  invited  her 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


259 


to  accompany  him  to  a  foreign  field,”  but  that  ought  not  to  count. 
The  love  of  her  life  was  absorbed  in  her  work  and  purpose.  But  it 
is  to  be  noted  that  the  moment  she  had  time  to  look  at  a  man  the 
man  was  there!  How  many  only  tradition  conjectures,  but  of  one 
the  records  speak,  and  he  her  peer.  An  Essex  County  lawyer, 
a  senator  of  the  Great  and  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  like  her¬ 
self  a  Puritan  born,  and  born  anew  into  the  graces  and  enlargements 
of  culture,  a  gentleman  of  an  exquisite  dignity  and  elegance  to 
match  her  own,  not  afraid  of  her  queenliness,  because  he  also  had 
royalty  to  proffer,  William  B.  Banister  asked  her  hand  in  marriage, 
and  the  queen  became  Queen  Consort. 

How  did  she  accept  subordinacy  ?  Like  a  queen.  I  suppose  the 
doctrine  of  woman’s  rights  had  hardly  then  been  broached.  Cer¬ 
tainly  Miss  Grant  had  always  theoretically  received  and  prominently 
preached  the  lordship  of  the  man,  and  it  is  always  interesting  to  see 
the  whole-souled  enthusiasm  with  which  women  who  rule  every  man 
that  comes  into  their  circle,  with  despotic  sway,  will  still  proclaim 
the  eternal  duty  of  woman’s  obedience  to  man.  They  are  right  and 
admirable,  but  they  are  above  all  things  amusing.  Their  obedience 
is  as  entertaining  as  a  comedy  of  Moliere’s.  Mrs.  Banister  was  one 
of  these  women.  “Sarah,  the  wife  of  Abraham,”  she  used  to  say 
to  her  pupils,  “was  praised  for  two  things;  her  faith  and  her 
obedience  to  her  husband.”  That  was  her  orthodoxy.  “Where 
there  are  only  two  there  can  be  no  majority,  and  the  supremacy 
must  rest  on  one.”  That  was  her  masculine  common  sense. 

‘  ‘  Since  the  wife  must  see  that  she  reverence  her  husband,  she  must 
see  that  she  do  not  marry  a  man  whom  she  cannot  reverence.” 
That  was  her  sanctified  common  sense.  “  I  know,”  she  said  to  Mr. 
Banister  on  her  marriage,  “  that  you  have  a  right  to  command,  but  I 
mean  to  be  so  on  the  alert  that  you  will  have  no  occasion.”  That 
was  her  feminine  common  sense.  And  just  as  the  elevation  of  her 
nature  transmuted  her  orthodoxy  into  the  most  real  liberalism,  so  it 
wrought  her  obedience  into  universal  command.  She  seems  to 
have  insinuated  her  own  way  upon  Mr.  Banister  in  all  things, 
under  the  prevailing  impression,  both  in  himself  and  herself, 
that  it  was  his  way — as  it  certainly  became.  She  ruled  her  house 
just  as  graciously  and  completely  as  she  had  ruled  her  school,  and  in 


26o 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


the  self-same  spirit.  And,  let  us  mark,  in  seeking  first  the  King¬ 
dom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,  the  kingdom  of  wealth  had  also 
been  added  unto  her.  While  as  yet  the  “English  craze”  had  not 
been  dreamed  of,  this  woman  who  united  in  herself  every  element  of 
age  and  strong-mindedness  and  indifference  to  pleasures,  which  are 
currently  supposed  to  make  a  woman  unattractive,  secured  not  only 
a  loyal  heart  but  a  royal  home — walked  quietly  in  and  took  possess¬ 
ion  of  a  colonial  mansion  so  spacious,  so  lordly  in  its  appointments, 
that  two  English  gentlemen,  welcomed  to  its  hospitalities,  acknowl¬ 
edged  publicly  its  colonial  charm.  “It  is  not  like  ours,”  says  their 
published  “  Narrative,  ”  “it  is  quite  English,  but  English  in  the 
olden  style — the  forms,  carvings,  cornices  and  patterns  such  as  I 
have  seen  a  hundred  times,  and  the  beautiful  limes  in  the  forecourt 
were  literally  brought  from  England.”  She  would  hardly  have 
found  more  fitting  garniture,  nor  would  she  have  worn  her  honors 
more  gracefully,  even  if  she  had  shaped  the  efforts  of  her  life  to  the 
acquisition  of  the  one  and  to  preparation  for  the  other. 

In  this  beautiful  and  happy  home  she  presided  for  twelve  years  with 
unfailing  generosity,  courtesy,  grace,  and  peace.  The  same  integrity 
and  intelligence  which  had  made  the  little  brown  cot  of  her  birth  a 
palace,  made  palatial  the  ample  home  of  her  marriage.  Her  thrift 
and  her  hospitality  were  unwearying.  Her  hospitality  was  not  for 
show,  but  for  service.  Her  thrift  was  not  for  hoarding,  but  for  using. 
She  not  only  entertained  the  learned  and  distinguished,  whose  pres¬ 
ence  brought  her  intellectual  revenue,  but  the  unlearned,  and  even 
the  disagreeable,  whose  ministrations  could  be  but  the  most  indirect 
service  to  herself.  To  the  lively  niece,  remonstrating  against  ‘  ‘  taking 
that  disagreeable  man,”  her  only  reply  was  “  have  you  been  so  long 
time  with  us  my  child,  and  do  not  yet  know  that  the  reason  we 
‘  take  folks,  ’  is  not  because  they  are  agreeable  ?  ’  ’  Her  guests  were 
not  simply  for  an  hour  or  a  dinner,  but  for  days,  weeks,  months,  years, 
according  to  their  need.  Now  it  was  a  widowed  missionary  tarrying 
with  her  children  for  the  winter,  then  the  son  of  missionaries  Mr. 
Banister  would  receive  and  educate. 

Indeed,  they  were  seldom  without  some  such  beneficiary,  of  whom 
the  one  exaction  made  was  that  he  should  give  to  Mrs.  Banister  an 
account  of  every  dollar  received.  This  she  considered  a  part  of  their 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


261 


training,  and  if  they  could  not  be  brought  into  it,  she  thought  them 
hardly  worth  training!  An  invalid  minister  with  his  wife  as  nurse 
would  be  bidden  to  stay  for  months.  A  poor  woman  would  be 
brought  from  her  two  small  rooms  to  spend  the  winter  in  sunshine, 
free  from  all  care.  A  poor  girl  would  be  given  a  home  while  she 
was  going  to  school.  But  the  hostess  saved  her  nutshells  because 
they  would  feed  a  fire,  and  she  saved  her  crumbs  because  they 
would  feed  a  bird.  And  when  the  poor  folks  who  had  never 
learned  to  save  came  to  her  door  to  beg,  she  tried  to  help  them  by 
work  and  wages  rather  than  by  alms. 

If  they  went  away  muttering  she  helped  them  just  the  same,  quietly 
remarking,  “We  can  hardly  expect  such  poor  creatures  to  be  reas¬ 
onable.”  The  General  Charitable  Society  of  Newburyport  was 
formed  in  her  house,  and  has  resulted  in  the  almost  complete  sup¬ 
pression  of  street  beggary. 

In  all  these  matters,  as  in  all  matters,  the  heart  of  her  husband 
safely  trusted  in  her.  His  purse  was  open  to  all  her  draughts,  his 
sympathy  to  her  plans,  his  hospitality  to  her  friends.  Twelve  years 
of  married  life,  as  full  as  her  earlier  years  had  been  of  happiness,  of 
dignity,  of  work  for  the  world,  of  thoughtfulness  for  others — perhaps  it 
may  almost  be  said  as  full  of  solicitude  for  the  education  of  the  young 
and  care  in  its  accomplishment — were  closed  by  the  death  of  her 
husband.  Under  this  shock  she  wavered  just  a  little.  For  days  her 
imagination  and  her  sympathy  overbore  the  loss,  and  she  seemed  to 
enter  heaven  with  him  and  share  the  new  joys  breaking  upon  his  new¬ 
born  soul.  Then  coming  back  to  earth,  the  loneliness  and  desolation 
appalled  and  nearly  overwhelmed  her.  But  she  rallied  herself  with 
resolute  will.  The  strong  habit  of  her  life,  the  strong  conviction  of 
duty  to  serve  the  world  while  she  lived  in  it,  held  her  steady  above 
the  storm,  and  gave  her  still  one  and  twenty  years — a  man’s  majority 
— of  busy,  varied,  not  untroubled  but  tranquil  and  beneficent  work. 
To  the  clergy  and  the  churches,  to  the  girls’  schools  springing  up 
through  the  country,  often  from  the  seeds  she  had  sown;  to  every 
form  of  mental  and  moral  growth,  of  helpfulness  and  philanthropy, 
whether  of  private,  individual  or  of  public  organization;  she  was  a 
missionary-at-large,  a  female  apostle,  sympathizing,  advising,  consol¬ 
ing.  She  traveled  through  her  own  country  and  in  Europe,  and  in 


26  2 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


both  continents  was  ministered  to  by  those  whose  youth  she  had 
helped  and  blessed.  It  was  war-time,  and  on  both  continents  she 
kept  the  flag  of  her  country  flying.  The  life  was  new  to  her,  and  she 
gave  all  possible  strength  to  sight-seeing;  but  nature  was  strong 
within  her,  and  the  old  fires  never  ceased  to  burn.  Tuscaloosa  ne¬ 
groes,  titled  English  ladies,  polite  and  cultivated  Frenchmen  gath¬ 
ered  to  hear  her  Bible  expositions  as  gladly  as  used  the  Derry  girls 
of  old  time.  With  the  contributions  of  modern  science  to  faith,  she 
made  herself  familiar,  but  was  not  troubled  thereby.  With  all  the 
movements  of  education  she  kept  abreast,  but  never  faltered  in  main¬ 
taining  that  character  as  well  as  intellect  was  the  object  of  education. 

In  the  seventy- fourth  year  of  her  age,  a  wicked  man  who,  in  the 
guise  and  disguise  of  a  righteous  man,  was  her  business  agent  and 
held  her  property  in  trust,  was  discovered  to  have  betrayed  his  trust, 
using  her  stocks  without  her  knowledge  to  aid  a  member  of  his  own 
family,  who  naturally  became  bankrupt.  Her  letter  of  inquiry  to 
this  wicked  servant  is  most  characteristic: 

“  Many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter.  May  all  your  hopes  for  a 
favorable  adjustment  of  your  affairs  be  realized.  I  stand  pledged  to 
pay  $300  a  year  for  the  education  of  each  of  three  half-orphan  great- 
grand-children  of  my  parents. 

“  I  expected  to  withdraw  this  from  my  principal  and  thus  diminish 
it.  Do  you  see  any  way  that  this  can  be  done  ?  You  will  bear  with 
me,  dear  sir,  and  allow  me  to  inquire  further  against  whom  and  with 
what  securities  do  you  hold  the  notes  for  $1,000  you  transferred  at 
my  request  to  Mrs.  P — ,  and  the  1,000  so  transferred  to  Mrs.  F — > 
You  have  been  patient,  kind  and  faithful  in  advising  me  hitherto,  but 
my  own  course  is  so  interwoven  with  the  bereaved,  the  desolate  and 
the  destitute,  that  I  know  not  what  to  do  without  the  light  I  seek 
from  you.  I  want  to  know  what  is  knowable  about  my  funds.  At 
what  time  or  times  were  those  funds  loaned  to — ?  When  it  has  been 
reported  to  me  diat  you  were  largely  aiding  business  men  in  trouble 
by  loaning  funds  for  which  you  were  trustee,  I  have  thought,  if  it  be 
so,  I  see  not  that  I  have  aught  to  do  about  it.  If  I  failed  in  doing 
all  I  ought,  I  hope  I  may  see  and  repent  of  it.  I  believe  you  will 
state  to  me  the  facts.”* 


‘“The  Use  of  A  Life,”  “Memorials  of  Mrs.  Z.  P.  Grant  Banister.”  By  Miss  L.  .T 
Guilford,  American  Tract  Society. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


263 


The  facts  were  that  every  penny  which  had  been  left  her  by  her 
husband  was  lost,  and  the  unprofitable  servant  who  had  lost  it  had 
the  assurance  to  congratulate  her  that  she  could  bear  her  loss  with 
resignation,  having  her  treasure  laid  up  in  heaven.  Left  thus  with 
only  the  small  sum  that  had  been  saved  from  her  own  earnings,  she 
made  no  complaint,  craved  no  sympathy,  bated  no  jot  of  active 
beneficence,  never  explained  even  when  browbeaten  for  alms,  but 
wrapped  close  her  royal  mantle  of  personal  reserve,  while  opening 
heart  and  hand  to  the  needs  of  all  her  world,  till,  sustained  by  the 
generous  legacy  of  one  step-daughter  and  tenderly  cherished  in  the 
home  of  the  other,  she  fell  on  sleep.  Superbly  faithful  in  the  few 
things  of  earth,  she  must  have  been  made  ruler  over  many  things, 
for  such  is  the  divine  law  of  succession,  and  by  this  token  she  reigns 
a  queen  in  heaven. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


SKETCH  OF  MARIA  MITCHELL. 

BY  FRANCES  FISHER  WOOD.* 

MARIA  MITCHELL  was  bom  on  ocean-girt  Nantucket,  that 
island  of  historic  associations  and  uniquely  primitive  customs, 
which  sends  out  to  the  world  outside  more  reformers  and  celebrities 
than  probably  any  other  place  of  its  size  in  all  America. 

Before  fashion  cast  covetous  eyes  on  its  rugged  beauty,  one  place 
at  least  could  be  found,  which  possessed  neither  extreme  of  social 
condition.  For  in  old  Nantucket  there  were  no  criminals  nor  pau¬ 
pers,  nor  any  among  its  people  who  were  rich.  The  one  jail  stood 
year  after  year  unoccupied,  its  existence  serving  only  as  a  reminder 
of  the  wickedness,  which  was  to  be  found  outside  the  island’s  cir¬ 
cumference.  The  men  of  Puritan  descent,  alternated  fishing  and 
farming  with  literary  work  and  scientific  investigation.  Among  its 
simple,  hardworking  people,  Maria  Mitchell  lived  for  over  forty 
years.  During  that  quiet  time  of  homely  work  and  lonely  study  was 
modelled  her  strong  character  with  its  principles,  lofty  as  the  heavens 
she  studied.  Here  were  formed  her  simple  manners,  with  that  unique 
combination  of  courtesy  and  bluntness;  and  here  was  established  the 
sound  health,  which  even  to  old  age  made  the  sturdy  frame  remark¬ 
able  for  its  power  of  endurance.  At  Nantucket,  Maria  Mitchell 
made  her  first  astronomical  discoveries,  and  while  still  living  on  the 
lonely  isolated  island,  she  became  one  of  the  world’s  most  famous 
women. 

Notwithstanding  the  manifest  importance  of  the  forty  years  in 
Nantucket,  those  who  knew  Maria  Mitchell  later,  and  who  had  any 
adequate  conception  of  her  great  work  at  Yassar  College,  cannot  but 


♦Educator,  Lecturer,  and  Scientist. 


Mrs.  Frances  Fislier  Wood. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


265 


feel  that  the  whole  of  that  early  period  was  after  all  but  a  preparation 
for  the  wider  field  of  influence,  to  which  she  was  later  summoned. 
Among  her  personal  friends  of  the  early  days,  and  particularly 
among  scientists,  there  have  been  some  who  felt  that  in  entering  upon 
the  life  of  an  instructor,  she  crippled  herself  in  her  original  work  as 
an  astronomer;  that  while  her  fame  has  since  rested  on  the  achieve¬ 
ments  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  old,  had  she  remained  in  the  field  of 
pure  science,  she  might  greatly  have  added  to  this  reputation.  She 
also  was  sometimes  influenced  by  such  opinions  to  balance  the  good 
lost  and  the  good  gained  by  the  sudden  change  in  her  career.  But 
we  who  knew  her  in  college,  and  entered  into  her  life  sufficiently  to 
comprehend  some  parts  at  least  of  the  noble  ends  she  reached,  un¬ 
hesitatingly  eliminate  doubt  from  our  balance  sheet,  and  feel  that  in 
purely  intellectual  work,  Maria  Mitchell  could  never  have  wielded  a 
fraction  of  the  power  she  exercised  in  her  career  as  a  teacher.  She 
always  said  that  she  watched  her  pupils  even  more  often  than  the 
stars;  but  that  certainly  was  the  nobler  work.  She  was  endowed 
with  gifts,  which  must  have  lain  fallow  in  purely  scientific  work,  which 
gave  her  peculiar  power  to  mould  the  lives  and  ennoble  the  character 
of  those  with  whom  she  came  in  contact.  No  doubt  if  Maria 
Mitchell  had  remained  in  some  quiet  corner  of  intellectual  New  Eng¬ 
land  with  her  books,  her  telescope,  and  her  coterie  of  learned  friends, 
she  might  have  discovered  a  few  more  comets,  have  recorded  some 
additional  planetoids,  or  compiled  some  reports  of  interesting  phe¬ 
nomena  seen  at  the  turbulent  Jupiter.  Also,  she  probably  would 
have  won  more  medals  of  the  degrees,  and  reaped  many  social  honors. 

In  changing  the  direction  of  her  work  and  missing  this  bauble 
reputation,  she  gained  instead  the  happy  conviction  that  in  her  pu¬ 
pils  she  had  by  her  influence  and  instruction  multiplied  a  hundred 
fold  her  individual  influence,  and  made  many  scientific  workers  in 
place  of  one.  This  is  the  conventional  thing  that  is  said  of  many 
teachers,  but  it  is  really  true  of  very  few.  It  is  difficult  in  speaking 
of  Maria  Mitchell  to  strike  the  happy  mean,  for  the  most  eloquent 
eulogy  seems  tame  to  her  pupils,  while  any  just  estimate  of  her  char¬ 
acter  and  elements  must  appear  to  strangers  overdrawn.  Fortunately 
one  is  saved  from  the  dangers  at  least,  of  falling  into  platitudes,  in 
describing  this  woman  for  the  conventional  virtues,  commonly 


266 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


ascribed  to  teachers,  do  not  fit  Maria  Mitchell.  Her  character,  for 
instance  was  not  well  rounded.  Anyone  associated  with  her  was  on 
the  contrary,  impressed  by  the  very  sharp  corners.  Nor  was  she  a 
model  instructor.  Her  own  training  was  unsystematic,  her  method 
of  teaching  was  consequently  original  and  striking.  The  teachers’ 
talent  of  leading  a  stupid  pupil  to  slow  acquisition,  she  entirely 
lacked.  While  she  might  feel  sympathy  for  a  stupid  girl,  she  had 
in  reality  no  patience  with  stupidity,  and  remorselessly  weeded  out 
of  her  classes  all  the  girls  who  she  said  were  wasting  their  time 
under  the  delusion  that  they  could  learn  mathematics.  Neither  was 
Prof.  Mitchell  in  the  common  school-girl  sense  of  the  word,  popular. 
In  the  evening  her  rooms  were  never  the  ones  crowded  with  students 
who  came  to  say  good-night,  nor  did  anyone  run  in  at  odd  moments 
with  bits  of  home  news.  She  was  outside  that  group  of  teachers, 
who  gave  to  college  life  its  home  element,  and  who  entered  freely 
into  close  friendship  with  the  pupils.  Prof.  Mitchell  was  familiar 
with  none;  the  first  and  most  general  sentiment  she  inspired  was  awe. 
Among  professors,  teachers  and  students  she  universally  commanded 
respect  of  a  very  high  order,  then  as  a  gradual  growth  among  a 
smaller  number  of  women,  members  of  her  classes,  there  came  to  be 
a  deep  and  abiding  affection,  which  many  of  her  pupils  learned  to 
count  as  the  crowning  glory  of  their  college  life. 

Miss  Mitchell  was  most  undemonstrative,  but  she  possessed  the 
New  England  intensity  of  feeling  combined  with  the  Puritan  unwil¬ 
lingness  to  express  affection.  Yet  no  one  in  seemingly  untender 
ways  was  ever  more  tenderly  thoughtful  for  her  pupils  than  this  un¬ 
demonstrative  woman.  She  wasted  few  words  and  expressed  little 
sympathy,  but  usually  was  the  first,  and  often  the  only  one  to  notice 
or  warn  a  pupil  against  any  oncoming  failure  of  health,  any  error  of 
conduct,  or  lack  of  moral  tone.  Some  brief  incisive  correction  from 
her  is  by  many  a  pupil,  after  long  lapse  of  years,  now  seen  to  be  a 
turning  point  in  life. 

Within  the  college  among  the  undergraduates,  Prof.  Mitchell’s 
scientific  discoveries  did  not  count  for  much,  but  rather  we  should 
say,  that  not  upon  that  basis  was  her  influence  founded,  or  her  repu¬ 
tation  established.  The  students  could  hardly  say  what  colleges  had 
made  her  an  L.L.  D.,  or  who  it  was  that  gave  her  the  gold  medal. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN 


267 


Since,  therefore,  she  was  not  conventionally  popular,  not  an  ordi¬ 
nary  model  teacher,  and  since  her  scientific  work  was  of  minor  im¬ 
portance  in  the  college  circle,  it  was  interesting  to  ascertain  what 
was  the  source  of  her  influence  and  reputation. 

Maria  Mitchell  was  a  power,  because  she  herself  was  great.  I  use 
the  word  advisedly  and  with  due  discrimination.  She  was  valued  for 
what  she  was,  rather  than  for  what  she  had  accomplished.  In  the 
estimation  of  Vassar  women,  her  worth  was  so  transcendent  that 
honors  bestowed  on  her  were  counted  as  honoring  the  givers,  but  ad¬ 
ding  no  lustre  to  a  name  that  was  great  enough  undecorated  by 
alphabetic  lists.  The  conviction  of  this  woman’s  greatness  was  im¬ 
pressed  upon  her  associates,  not  so  much  through  an  appreciation  of 
her  intellectual  gifts,  for  then  she  would  have  reached  only  the  limited 
number  who  were  adequate  to  pass  judgment  on  the  degree  of  her 
mental  ability,  but  she  attracted  rather  by  the  force  of  her  strong 
personality.  All  who  came  in  contact  with  her  were  held  by  her  per¬ 
sonal  appearance,  her  personal  presence  and  her  personal  character. 
She  was  a  noble  type  of  a  strong-bodied,  strong-brained,  strong- 
hearted  woman.  She  astonished,  fascinated  and  held  her  pupils  by 
a  remarkable  combination  of  shrewd  common-sense,  startling  insight 
into  individual  character,  and  a  frank  simplicity  and  directness,  which 
drove  one  to  confess  that  no  frankness  was  ever  known  like  it. 

By  her  personal  appearance,  Maria  Mitchell  immediately  claimed 
attention  and  respect.  She  said  she  was  a  homely  girl,  but  time  had 
touched  her  face  with  many  softening  lines.  The  features  were  still 
irregular  and  inclassic,  but  the  pure  life,  high  thoughts  and  noble 
purposes  had  written  upon  her  face  in  eloquent  lauguage  the  evidence 
of  a  great  nature.  Prof.  Mitchell’s  appearance  was  so  striking,  that 
strangers  with  mingled  curiosity  and  deference,  sometimes  asked  her 
who  she  was.  As  her  manner  was  most  unobtrusive,  and  her  cos¬ 
tume  of  the  quiet  Quaker  cut  and  color,  it  was  neither  dress  nor 
manner  that  attracted  attention,  but  the  something  great  within  that 
shone  out  through  the  unhandsome  face.  Once  when  she  was  in  the 
cars  between  Boston  and  New  York,  the  newsboy  on  the  train  eyed 
Miss  Mitchell  with  evident  interest.  As  a  result  of  his  inspection, 
the  sharp  little  fellow  offered  her  none  of  the  trashy  literature  he  dis¬ 
tributed  to  her  travelling  companions,  but  presently,  with  an  air  of 


268 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR 


decision,  brought  her  one  of  Mrs.  Stowe’s  works.  When  she  shook 
her  head,  he  said,  “  ’cuse  me,  but  ain’t  you  Mrs.  Stowe?  ”  Not  to 
be  baffled  by  her  refusal  to  accept  the  name  he  tried  to  fit  to  her  face, 
he  presently  returned  to  the  attack,  saying,  “there,  perhaps  you’re 
Mrs.  Stanton.’’  Receiving  a  second  negative,  he  added,  respect¬ 
fully,  “  would  you  mind  tellin’  me  who  you  are,  mam  ?  ”  It  was  not 
probable  that  the  name,  Maria  Mitchell,  gave  the  persistent  boy  any 
very  definite  enlightenment,  but  he  exclaimed  triumphantly,  “I 
knew  you  was  somebody.” 

The  power  of  Prof.  Mitchell’s  personal  presence  was  rooted 
in  her  absolute  rectitude.  Her  bearing  was  that  of  a  woman,  who 
had  never  been  false  to  her  principles,  or  her  convictions,  who  had 
never  misrepresented  her  opinions,  or  sacrificed  truth  to  expediency. 
Her  manners  were  not  elegant,  or  gracious,  or  charming,  after  the 
conventional  type  of  a  society  woman,  but  despite  that,  there  was' 
no  circle,  social  or  literary,  however  exclusive,  where  her  presence 
was  not  felt  to  be  an  honor.  In  Maria  Mitchell’s  manners  were 
discernible,  a  happy  combination  of  good  birth  and  breeding,  a 
just  appreciation  of  her  own  personal  worth,  a  lenient  judgment  of 
others’  attainment  and  a  supreme  devotion  to  truth.  Her  perfect 
self  poise  resulted  from  a  life  in  which  was  no  sham  and  nothing  to 
conceal.  Once  when  conversation  at  one  of  her  Sunday  evening 
receptions  turned  upon  total  depravity,  she  promptly  pronounced 
the  doctrine  most  monstrous,  saying,  that  never  in  her  life  had  she 
done  anything  which  she  knew  to  be  wrong,  and  therefore  she  could 
not  but  believe  evil  the  result  of  poor  judgment  and  mis-education. 

The  dignity  of  her  personal  presence  received  its  finest  homage  in 
the  fact  that  even  irreverent  collegiates  recognized  and  received  it, 
for  Prof.  Mitchell  was  never  nick-named.  She  was  as  far  as  I  know, 
the  only  one  of  all  the  corps  of  college  instructors,  who  escaped  that 
infliction;  popular  or  unpopular,  wise  or  foolish,  great  or  small,  all 
were  dubbed  by  some  sign  or  abbreviation.  But  Prof.  Mitchell  was 
never  re-named-  she  alone  always  received  her  full  name  and 
title. 

Her  personal  character  endures  its  supreme  test,  in  the  evidence, 
constantly  accumulating,  that  her  influence  upon  others,  especially 
upon  her  pupils  who  were  daily  companions,  was  permanent. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


269 


character  moulding  and  increasingly  progressive.  The  enthusiasm 
she  excited  has  proved  to  be  no  effervescent  impulse.  Time  and 
experience  have  but  deepened  the  gratitude  and  admiration  which 
her  girls  felt  for  her  when  in  college.  After  years  of  separation 
and  deeper  and  more  critical  knowledge  of  human  nature,  many  an 
instructor,  once  an  object  of  our  immature  affection  is  seen  to 
be  insipid,  weak  in  character,  narrow  in  mental  scope,  crude 
in  manner  and  bigoted  in  religion;  indeed  totally  unlike  and  un¬ 
worthy  the  creature  of  our  fancy  and  our  love.  But  each  woman 
who  went  out  from  Vassar  to  meet  people  and  learn  life  outside, 
found  this  woman  by  more  general  comparison,  still  the  peer  of  the 
noblest.  Not  only  was  our  immature  judgment  not  over  enthusi¬ 
astic,  but  it  really  was  incompetent  to  measure  her  at  her  true 
altitude. 

Strangers  were  sometimes  at  first  unpleasantly  impressed  by  Prof. 
Mitchell’s  bluntness,  and  even  those  who  knew  her  well  never  lost  a 
certain  respectful  awe  of  her  caustic  tongue.  Her  sarcasm  was  the 
keenest  most  trenchant  ever  wielded  by  a  sarcastic  sex,  but  its 
wounds  were  never  made  from  cruelty,  nor  was  it  used  in  mere  self- 
defense.  It  was  never  drawn  except  for  some  principle,  but  then  woe 
be  to  any,  friend  or  foe,  who  stood  in  the  way. 

The  code  of  manners  laid  down  for  men  and  those  prescribed  for 
women  were  so  widely  different,  that  we  possess  no  sensible  all-em¬ 
bracing  standard.  Men  go  to  see  one  another  when  they  have  some¬ 
thing  to  communicate,  write  letters  when  there  is  an  object  for  such 
an  effort.  One  man  abruptly  leaves  another  who  bores  him,  or 
coolly  dismisses  his  friend,  if  something  more  important  claims  his 
attention.  A  man  is  supposed  always  to  be  busy,  and  that  supposi¬ 
tion  is  the  basis  of  all  male  etiquette. 

Woman,  on  the  contrary,  has  all  possible  usefulness  eaten  out  of 
her  life,  by  the  theory  that  she  is  always  at  leisure,  with  no  higher 
aim  than  to  make  herself  entertaining  to  any  idler  who  may  choose 
to  trespass  upon  her  time.  Judged  by  a  woman’s  code  of  manners, 
Prof.  Mitchell  was  perhaps  deficient,  for  she,  over- worked  professional 
woman,  took  just  the  methods  that  an  over-worked  professional  man 
would  employ  to  rid  herself  of  bores,  and  to  economize  the  time, 
which  she  counts  a  sacred  trust.  She  would  answer  a  four  page 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


2  70 

letter  by  two  lines  signed,  M.  M.  in  which  was  not  one  superfluous 
word.  If  you  called  upon  her  and  remained  inconveniently  long, 
she  would  calmly  tell  you  so. 

A  well  known  lecturer,  a  personal  friend  of  Maria  Mitchell,  once 
addressed  the  students  at  Vassar,  and  when  she  loquaciously  con¬ 
sumed  too  much  time,  Prof.  Mitchell  at  the  rear  of  the  chapel,  stood 
bolt  upright,  and  by  way  of  a  delicate  hint,  held  her  open  watch 
aloft  before  the  eyes  of  the  astonished  speaker.  A  man  of  more 
than  national  reputation,  once  said  to  me;  “I  for  one  can’t  endure 
your  Maria  Mitchell.”  At  my  solicitation  he  explained  why,  and 
his  reason  was,  as  I  had  anticipated,  grounded  on  personal  pique.  It 
seems  he  went  up  to  Vassar,  especially  to  call  upon  Miss  Mitchell, 
and  with  that  condescension,  which  some  men  extend  to  all  women 
indiscriminately,  he  proceeded  to  inform  her,  that  her  manner  of  liv¬ 
ing  was  not  according  to  his  notions  of  expediency.  “Now,”  he 
said,  '  ‘  instead  of  going  for  each  meal,  all  the  way  from  your  rooms 
in  ihe  observatory  over  to  the  dining  hall  in  the  college  building,  I 
should  think  it  far  more  convenient  and  sensible  for  you  to  get  at 
least  your  own  breakfast  in  your  apartments.  In  the  morning  you 
could  make  a  cup  of  coffee  and  boil  an  egg,  with  almost  no  trouble.” 
At  which  Prof.  Mitchell  drew  herself  up  with  the  air  of  a  tragic 
queen,  saying,  “and  is  my  time  worth  no  more  than  to  boil  eggs.” 

Those  who  object  to  Maria  Mitchell’s  summary  manner  of  dispos¬ 
ing  of  obtrusive  people  must  at  least  be  just  enough  to  recognize  that 
it  is  by  cutting  through  and  away  from  the  chain  of  conventionalities 
which  bind  and  dwarf  most  of  her  sex,  that  this  woman  saved  time 
and  gained  education  for  greater  work  than  her  fashionable  sister 
accomplished,  and  that  it  was  by  ever  placing  truth  before  conven¬ 
tional  politeness  that  the  grand  woman  became  so  strong  and  noble, 
that  she  strengthened  and  ennobled  all  who  came  within  her  influence. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


WOMEN’S  WORK  AT  THE  HARVARD 
OBSERVATORY. 


BY  HELEN  LEAH  REED. 


Reprinted  by  special  permission  from  the  Editor  of  the  New  England  Magazine. 


STRONOMERS  have  always  welcomed  to  their  ranks  women 


/V  of  genius  like  Caroline  Herschell,  Mary  Somerville,  and  Maria 
Mitchell;  and  various  European  and  American  observatories  have 
of  late  years  employed  not  a  few  women  computers.  The  Harvard 
College  Observatory  has  been  especially  appreciative  of  the  work  of 
women;  not  only  employing  them  as  computers,  but  definitely  en¬ 
couraging  them  to  undertake  original  research.  Yet,  although  there 
is  a  field  for  woman’s  work  in  astrometry,  the  so-called  old  astron¬ 
omy,  with  its  problems  relating  to  the  positions  and  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  a  much  wider  scope  is  offered  for  the  work  of 
woman  in  astrophysics,  the  so-called  new  astronomy.  For  in  this 
latter  branch  of  practical  astronomy,  photography  is  now  so  largely 
used  that  the  observer,  magnifying  glass  in  hand,  can  at  any  hour  of 
the  day  study  the  photographic  plate  with  results  even  more  satisfac¬ 
tory  than  those  formerly  obtained  by  visual  or  telescopic  observations 
at  night.  In  the  average  observatory,  where  men  are  employed,  it 
is  obviously  impracticable  for  women  to  engage  in  night  observing. 
Photography  as  applied  to  astronomy  has,  therefore,  greatly  increased 
her  opportunities  for  original  research.  Although  in  astrometry, 
photography  has  often  been  used  to  show  the  contact  of  an  eclipse, 
or  the  transit  of  a  planet,  or  to  answer  some  similar  purpose,  its  use 
in  astrophysics  is  much  more  extensive.  Yet,  valuable  as  are  the 
photographic  records  of  solar  and  lunar  surfaces,  the  photographic 
analyses  of  the  stars  in  a  group  or  of  the  configuration  of  nebulae, 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


272 

even  more  wonderful  are  the  recent  stellar  discoveries  made  by  pho¬ 
tographing  the  spectra  of  the  stars.  It  is  in  this  last-named  branch 
of  astrophysics,  that  the  women  assistants  at  the  Harvard  Observa¬ 
tory  have  accomplished  important  results. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  results  thus  far  achieved  by  these  women 
assistants  are  Mrs.  Fleming’s  discovery  that  variable  stars  of  a  certain 
type  may  be  proved  variable  by  the  bright  lines  in  their  spectra,  and 
Miss  Maury’s  discovery  that  Beta  Aurigae  is  a  close  binary,  proved 
so  from  the  study  of  its  spectrum.  Yet  the  whole  experiment  of  em¬ 
ploying  women  to  the  extent  to  which  they  are  here  employed  is 
worthy  of  attention.  For  the  Harvard  Observatory  is  the  first  to  de¬ 
velop  a  corps  of  trained  women  assistants,  dealing  with  difficult  prob¬ 
lems  as  successfully  as  men  deal  with  them  at  other  observatories; 
and  this  corps  of  women,  in  addition  to  doing  thorough  routine 
work,  has  shown  great  capacity  for  original  investigations.  Moreover, 
they  are  employed  not  from  the  meaner  motive  which  so  often  leads 
to  the  opening  of  some  new  field  for  women’s  work,  viz.,  that  their 
work  can  be  obtained  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  that  of  men;  for  the 
women  assistants  doing  routine  work  are  paid  at  the  same  fixed  rate 
per  hour  as  the  men  in  other  departments  of  the  Observatory  who  do 
the  same  kind  of  work.  Work  paid  for  by  the  hour  possesses  cer¬ 
tain  obvious  advantages,  since  the  worker  is  thus  tied  down  to  no 
fixed  hours,  and  she  may  even  do  portions  of  her  work  at  home. 
Much  of  the  Harvard  Observatory  work  is,  however,  carried  on  in 
two  light,  pleasant  rooms.  These  rooms  appear  the  workrooms  that 
they  are,  with  their  convenient  writing-tables,  shelves  of  note-books, 
astronomical  catalogues  and  reports,  with  their  walls  hung  with  star 
maps  and  portraits  of  noted  astronomers.  Here  and  there  on  tables 
and  window-seats  lie  magnifying  glasses,  frames  for  holding  the  plates, 
and  other  necessary  appliances;  while  ranged  in  the  hallway  and 
ante-chamber  are  numerous  wooden  boxes  containing  the  brittle 
though  perishable  glass  plates — those  indisputable  records  of  the 
Draper  Memorial  work.  In  these  very  glass  plates  is  seen  one  of  the 
chief  advantages  derived  from  the  application  of  photography  to  as¬ 
tronomy.  For  these  plates  reproduce  the  condition  of  the  same 
region  of  the  sky  at  various  periods,  and  hence  may  be  referred  to 
at  any  time  to  confirm  any  discovery.  Should  a  bright  star  suddenly 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


273 


appear  in  the  sky,  its  previous  absence  or  comparative  faintness, 
could  at  once  be  proved  from  these  incontrovertible  records. 

The  work  in  which  women  take  part  at  the  Harvard  Observatory 
may  be  divided  into  three  classes. 

1.  Computing,  based  on  the  work  of  others.  For  twenty  years 
some  women  have  always  been  included  in  the  corps  of  Harvard 
computers. 

2.  Original  deductions  (not  necessarily  star-work).  Work  of  this 
kind  has  been  carried  on  chiefly  by  special  students  of  the  Harvard 
Annex.  In  this  class  of  work  must  be  named  a  'ongitude  campaign 
— probably  the  only  longitude  campaign  ever  conducted  wholly  by 
women,  whereby  Miss  Byrd  and  Miss  Whitney  determined  the  pre¬ 
cise  distance  in  longitude  between  the  Smith  College  and  Harvard 
College  Observatories.  Miss  Byrd  is  now  director  of  the  Smith  Col¬ 
lege  Observatory,  and  Miss  Whitney  is  Maria  Mitchell’s  successor  at 
Vassar.  In  this  second  class  of  work  may  be  included  also  the  mak¬ 
ing  of  a  standard  catalogue  of  the  stars  near  the  North  Pole  by  Miss 
Anna  Winlock,  the  daughter  of  a  former  director  of  the  Harvard 
Observatory. 

3.  The  Henry  Draper  Memorial  work,  and  four  other  investiga¬ 
tions,  less  extensive,  though  similar  in  kind  to  those  provided  for  by 
the  Druper  fund. 

As  the  Draper  Memorial  investigations  form  one  of  the  most  note¬ 
worthy  departments  of  the  Harvard  Observatory,  and  as  these  inves¬ 
tigations — under  the  direction  of  Prof.  E.  C.  Pickering,  the  director 
of  the  Observatory— are  carried  on  by  women,  the  present  article 
will  devote  itself  principally  to  a  description  of  this  work.  More¬ 
over,  the  work  is  supported  wholly  by  a  woman,  Mrs.  Anna  Palmer 
Draper  of  New  York,  in  honor  of  her  husband,  Dr.  Henry 
Draper,  who  was  a  pioneer  in  the  work  of  photographing  stellar 
spectra. 

It  is  not  possible  here,  from  lack  of  space,  to  speak  of  the  many 
mechanical  devices  by  means  of  which  Dr.  Draper  facilitated  his  own 
work.  These,  and  indeed  all  his  inventions,  were  freely  contributed 
to  the  general  cause  of  science. 

Mrs.  Draper  had  always  taken  deep  interest  in  Dr.  Draper’s  work, 
and  had  even  at  times  been  his  assistant  in  some  of  his  delicate 


274 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


experiments.  After  his  death,  she  at  first  thought  of  establishing  in 
New  York,  an  observatory  equipped  with  his  superb  apparatus,  and 
liberally  endowed  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  the  investigations  be¬ 
gun  by  him  in  spectrum  photography.  But,  realizing  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  similar  experiments  already  going  on  at  the  Harvard  College 
Observatory,  early  in  1886  she  placed  at  Professor  Pickering’s  ser¬ 
vice  Dr.  Draper’s  eleven-inch  telescope,  and  furnished  sufficient 
money  to  test  thoroughly  certain  experiments  recently  begun  by 
him. 

The  first  photograph  of  a  star  ever  made  had  been  taken  at  the 
Harvard  Observatory  by  Professor  G.  P.  Bond  and  Mr.  J.  A.  Whip¬ 
ple,  on  a  daguerrotype  plate,  in  1850.  In  1857  the  work  was 
resumed  on  glass  plates,  and  the  possibility  of  recording  the  position 
and  brightness  of  stars  was  stated  in  three  elaborate  papers  by  Mr. 
G.  P.  Bond,  published  in  the  Astronomischen  Nachrichten  in  the 
same  year.  For  a  time,  stellar  photography  at  the  Harvard  Ob¬ 
servatory  was  suspended;  but  in  1882  it  was  resumed,  with  the 
assistance  of  Prof.  W.  H.  Pickering.  Thenceforth,  continuous  ex¬ 
periments  in  stellar  photography  were  made  at  this  observatory, 
aided  by  appropriations  from  the  Rumford  Fund  of  the  American 
Academy,  and  later  by  the  Bache  Fund  of  the  National  Academy 
of  Sciences.  With  the  eight-inch  Voigtlander  doublet  purchased 
from  the  latter  fund,  Prof.  E.  C.  Pickering,  in  1886,  had  begun  a 
series  of  experiments  in  spectrum  photography.  Hitherto  it  had 
been  possible  to  photograph  the  spectrum  of  but  one  star  at  a  time, 
and  that  a  star  of  the  first  or  second  magnitude.  Now,  by  placing  a 
prism  in  front  of  the  object  glass,  thereby  securing  a  great  increase 
of  light,  all  the  stars  at  one  time  visible  in  the  field  impressed  their 
spectra  simultaneously  on  the  plate.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore, 
that  Mrs.  Draper,  instead  of  founding  a  new  observatory,  decided  to 
encourage  these  Harvard  investigations  which  were  so  directly  in  a 
line  with  those  begun  by  Dr.  Draper.  The  first  year’s  work  with 
the  eleven-inch  Draper  telescope  was  so  satisfactory,  that  Mrs. 
Draper  enlarged  the  scope  of  the  Draper  Memorial.  The  investiga¬ 
tions  in  1888,  comprised  under  this  heading,  were: 

1.  A  catalogue  of  the  spectra  of  all  stars  north  of— 20°,  of  the  6t'n 
magnitude,  or  brighter. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


275 


2.  A  more  extensive  catalogue  of  spectra  of  stars  brighter  than  the 
8th  magnitude. 

3.  A  detailed  study  of  the  spectra  of  the  bright  stars;  including  a 
classification  of  the  spectra,  a  determination  of  the  wave  lengths  of 
the  lines,  a  comparison  with  terrestrial  spectra,  and  an  application  of 
the  results  to  the  measurements  of  the  approach  and  recession  of  the 
stars. 

Since  the  work  was  first  undertaken,  other  minor  investigations 
have  sprung  from  these;  and  in  the  course  of  the  work,  several  bril¬ 
liant  discoveries  have  been  made. 

The  instruments  employed  in  the  Draper  Memorial  work  are  the 
eight-inch  Bache  telescope,  now  in  Peru;  and  the  eight-inch  Draper 
telescope,  in  constant  use  at  Cambridge.  This  latter  instrument  was 
provided  by  Mrs.  Draper  after  it  had  been  found  necessary  to  send 
the  Bache  telescope  to  Peru.  While  the  whole  work  is  under  the 
direction  of  Professor  Pickering,  the  director  of  the  Harvard  Obser¬ 
vatory,  the  photographs  have  been  taken  by  Mr.  H.  H.  Clayton, 
and  later  by  Mr.  W.  P.  Gerrish.  The  examination  of  the  plates, 
the  measurment  of  the  position  and  the  brightness  of  the  stars,  the 
discussion  of  the  results  obtained  from  the  plates,  and  the  forming  of 
catalogues  from  these  results,  have  been  carried  on  mainly  by  Mrs. 
Mina  Fleming  and  her  assistants,  at  present  numbering  eight. 

The  objects  of  special  interest  searched  for  on  the  spectrum  plates 
and  noted  by  the  observer  as  worthy  of  future  investigation  are,  first, 
third-type  stars,  the  spectra  of  which  have  been  divided  into  four 
classes.  The  first  three  classes  show  no  special  differences  from  red 
stars  in  general,  but  the  fourth  class  has  a  striking  peculiarity.  The 
spectra  of  these  stars  have  the  lines  due  to  hydrogen  bright,  and  all 
these  bright  line  spectric  objects  discovered  from  the  examination  of 
the  plates  have  proved  to  be  variables  of  long  period.  Several  stars 
not  before  known  to  be  variables  have  thus  been  proved  variable. 
This  important  discovery  was  not  made  by  chance.  For  some  time 
previous  to  the  spring  of  1890  Mrs.  Fleming  had  suspected  that  the 
presence  of  bright  lines  in  the  spectra  of  third-type  stars  indicated 
variability.  A  careful  study  of  successive  plates  confirmed  her 
suspicion,  and  on  the  16th  of  April,  1890,  she  was  able  to  announce 
her  discovery  that  the  star  D.  M.  -f-  48°  2942  in  the  constellation 


2-6 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Cygnus  had  been  proved  variable  from  a  study  of  its  spectrum. 
During  the  next  year  and  a  half,  eleven  new  variables  were  discov¬ 
ered  by  Mrs.  Fleming  and  forty  others  were  suspected  of  variability. 

The  second  class  of  peculiar  objects  sought  for  on  the  spectrum 
plates  is  composed  of  fourth-type  stars  in  color  of  so  deep  a  red  that 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  photograph  their  spectra.  Yet  in  spite  ot 
difficulties  the  Draper  Memorial  work  has  added  to  this  class  six 
stars  not  previously  known  to  belong  to  it,  and  the  spectra  of  several 
known  to  belong  to  it  have  been  photographed,  although  as  yet  not 
with  entire  satisfaction. 

The  third  and  final  class  of  peculiar  objects  sought  for  on  the 
spectrum  plates  consists  of  fifth-type  stars,  including  bright  line  stars 
and  planetary  nebulae.  The  most  important  discoveries  among  these 
have  been  in  the  rare  class  of  stars  discovered  by  Wolf  and  Rayet. 
Th'e  Draper  Memorial  work  has  led  to  the  discovery  of  twenty-seven 
stars  of  this  class;  whereas,  previous  to  this  investigation  only  thir¬ 
teen  had  been  known  to  astronomers.  In  February,  1891,  Prof. 
E.  C.  Pickering  first  called  attention  to  the  proximity  of  these  stars 
to  the  central  line  of  the  Milky  Way,  in  an  article  published  in  the 
Astronom ischen  Nachrichten . 

After  the  spectrum  plates  have  been  carefully  examined,  they  are 
next  compared  with  the  ordinary  chart  plates  on  which  the  stars 
appear  simply  as  points,  for  the  confirmation  of  the  variability  of 
stars  suspected  of  being  variable  from  the  nature  of  their  spectra. 
The  chart  plates  themselves  are  also  examined  in  a  search  for  clusters 
and  nebulae.  And  here  it  must  be  noted  that  the  only  planetary  neb¬ 
ula  up  to  this  time  ever  discovered  by  photography  was  discovered 
by  Mrs.  Fleming. 

Among  the  various  investigations  conducted  by  the  Draper  Me¬ 
morial  is  a  piece  of  work  carried  on  by  Miss  Maury  alone;  namely, 
the  detailed  study  and  classification  of  the  spectra  of  the  brighter 
stars  photographed  with  the  eleven-inch  telescope.  Photographs 
have  been  obtained  of  nearly  all  the  stars  visible  in  the  latitude  of  the 
Harvard  Observatory,  and  sufficiently  bright,  and  the  examination  of 
their  spectra  is  approaching  completion.  As  a  result  of  this  exami¬ 
nation  has  come  the  discovery  that  Beta  Aurigse  is  a  close  binary  re¬ 
volving  in  four  days.  The  doubling  of  the  lines  in  the  spectrum  of 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


277 


this  object  is  similar  to  the  doubling  of  the  lines  in  Zeta  Ursae  Ma- 
joris,  discovered  to  be  a  binary  by  Prof.  Pickering.  The  greater 
importance  of  the  discovery  in  the  case  of  Beta  Aurigae  lies  in  the  ve¬ 
locity  of  the  latter;  for,  while  the  period  of  the  former  star  is  fifty-two 
days,  that  of  the  latter  is  only  four  days.  The  velocity  of  the  latter 
is  almost  unimaginable  (150  miles  a  second),  and  the  value  of  the 
prism  in  examining  it  may  be  realized  from  the  statement  that  the 
prism  can  multiply  about  5,000  times  the  power  of  the  object  glass  in 
separating  close  and  rapidly  revolving  pairs. 

Miss  Maury  is  making  a  careful  study  of  numerous  photographs 
of  the  spectra  of  Zeta  Ursae  Majoris,  Beta  Aurigae,  as  well  as  of  Beta 
Lyrae,  a  star  apparently  of  the  same  nature  as  these  two  recently  dis¬ 
covered  to  be  a  probable  binary  by  Mrs.  Fleming.  Miss  Maury  is 
also  making  a  study  of  the  spectra  of  stars  of  the  Orion  type,  and 
from  her  various  investigations  important  additions  to  our  knowledge 
of  these  bodies  will  result.  There  remains  to  be  named  a  large  piece 
of  photometric  work  undertaken  with  the  eight-inch  Draper  tele¬ 
scope.  Miss  Leland  has  measured  40,000  stars  of  about  the  tenth 
magnitude  uniformly  distributed  over  the  sky,  and  these  measure¬ 
ments  will  be  reduced  to  a  uniform  scale  to  furnish  standards  of  stel¬ 
lar  magnitude. 

The  Harvard  Observatory  is  fortunate  in  having  a  station  in  the 
Southern,  as  well  as  one  in  the  Northern  Hemisphere.  The  estab¬ 
lishing  of  a  station  at  Chosica  in  Peru,  in  1889,  provided  for  by  the 
Boyden  and  Draper  funds,  afforded  unexampled  opportunities  for 
photographing  the  entire  heavens  from  pole  to  pole.  The  region  of 
sky  to  be  covered  in  Peru  extends  from — 20°  to  the  South  Pole, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  various  researches  this  region  will  have  been 
covered  four  times  by  the  photographic  telescope.  All  the  plates 
taken  in  Peru  are  sent  to  the  Harvard  Observatory,  and  are  there 
examined  as  above  described.  Indeed,  many  of  the  third-type  stars 
spoken  of  above  have  been  discovered  on  these  southern  plates. 
The  records  of  two  valuable  original  observations  made  at  the 
Chosica  Station  by  Messrs.  S.  I.  &  M.  H.  Bailey  have  also  been  re¬ 
duced,  catalogued,  and  prepared  for  the  printer  by  the  Draper 
Memorial  women  assistants. 

The  examination  of  the  plates,  as  above  described,  by  no  means 


278 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


comprises  the  whole  work  of  these  women  assistants.  In  addition  to 
this  they  record  their  observations,  reduce  the  co-ordinates  of  objects 
examined,  identify  the  objects  photographed  with  the  stars  in  various 
catalogues,  and  finally  check  the  results  by  a  direct  comparison  of 
the  chart  with  the  photograph.  The  “  Draper  Memorial  Catalogue” 
(published  in  the  Harvard  College  Observatory  Annals,  Vol.  xxvii.) 
is  a  catalogue  of  the  spectra  of  10,400  stars  (involving  the  measure-, 
ment  of  28,266  spectra)  giving  positions  for  the  year  1900.  Yet 
ample  as  this  printed  catalogue  is,  it  by  no  means  contains  all  the 
records  made  in  preparing  it.  The  copy  which  went  to  the  printer 
was  naturally  less  full  than  the  manuscript  records.  Three  catalogues 
were  made,  in  fact,  before  the  copy  was  sent  to  press;  and  the  printed 
catalogue  contains  only  about  one-tenth  of  the  records  used  in 
preparing  it. 

Besides  the  “  Draper  Memorial”  work,  four  other  Harvard  Ob¬ 
servatory  investigations  have  been  published  with  the  aid  of  the 
women  assistants. 

1.  The  catalogue  of  1 ,000  stars  within  i°  of  the  North  Pole  (of 
these  only  forty  are  in  other  catalogues.) 

2.  A  study  of  the  Pleiades.  This  group  will  probably  always  be 
used  by  astronomers  as  a  test  and  means  of  comparison  writh  the 
work  of  their  predecessors.  The  Harvard  Observatory  aim  is  to 
furnish  a  measure  of  photographic  brightness  of  a  portion  of  the  stars 
in  this  group,  so  that  the  results  reached  by  other  observers  may  be 
reduced  to  a  uniform  scale. 

3.  Trails  of  equatorial  stars.  Here  the  object  is  to  determine  the 
photographic  intensity  of  all  bright  stars  within  two  degrees  of  the 
equator 

4.  The  enumeration  of  all  the  nebulae  photographed  in  a  given 
portion  of  the  sky.  This  investigation  shows  the  probability  of  a 
marked  addition  to  the  number  of  known  nebulae.  Photography  has 
already  greatly  increased  the  limits  of  the  nebulae  in  Orion.  A  few 
years  ago,  Prof.  W.  H.  Pickering  found  this  nebulous  region  to 
include  the  sword  handle,  and  more  lately  it  has  been  found  to 
include  a  wide  area  extending  north  and  south  from  this. 

Several  subsidiary  investigations  similar  to  those  already  begun  in 
the  ‘‘Draper  Memorial”  work,  will  be  undertaken  at  the  Harvard 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


279 


Observatory  when  the  Bruce  telescope  is  completed.  This  telescope 
has  been  provided  at  the  cost  of  $50,000,  by  Miss  C.  W.  Bruce  of 
New  York.  This  photographic  telescope,  with  a  focal  length  of 
eleven  feet,  will  have  an  objective  of  about  twenty-four  inches,  and 
the  object  glass  will  be  a  compound  lens  of  the  style  known  as 
“portrait  lens.”  This  telescope  will  furnish  a  large  amount  of 
material,  and  will  photograph  stars  of  the  seventeenth  magnitude  or 
fainter.  As  the  lenses  are  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Clarks  for  polish¬ 
ing,  it  will  doubtless  be  mounted  within  a  year.  Miss  Bruce,  who 
has  a  deep  interest  in  astronomy,  has  made  more  than  one  substantial 
gift  to  encourage  workers  in  this  science.  The  sum  of  $6,000  was 
lately  expended  by  her  in  awards  to  various  astronomers  who  had 
achieved  distinction.  Mrs.  Draper,  too,  in  addition  to  the  large 
amount  of  money  expended  by  her  on  the  “  Draper  Memorial,”  has 
founded  the  Henry  Draper  Medal  of  the  National  Academy  of 
Sciences,  to  be  awarded  for  distinction  in  solar  physics. 

Although  in  practical  astronomy  the  field  for  woman’s  work  is  a 
wide  one,  the  number  of  paid  positions  for  workers  in  this  field  is 
naturally  limited.  Yet  the  success  of  the  Harvard  experiment  of 
training  a  corps  of  women  assistants  has  been  so  marked,  that  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  other  observatories  may  follow  this  example.  As  the 
resources  of  the  various  observatories  are  increased  by  the  liberality 
of  the  people  interested,  like  Mrs.  Draper  and  Miss  Bruce,  in  en¬ 
couraging  the  development  of  astronomy,  it  may  not  be  too  much  to 
expect  to  see  larger  numbers  of  women  among  the  observatory 
assistants.  Not  all  women  are  capable  of  working  in  this  field,  for 
the  work  demands  special  mental  qualities.  Mrs.  Fleming  has  an 
eye  remarkably  keen  in  making  measurements,  a  mind  unusually 
alert  in  observing,  and  an  executive  ability  so  marked  that  it  has 
gone  far  toward  insuring  the  success  of  the  “  Draper  Memorial  ” 
work.  Mrs.  Fleming  is  a  native  of  Dundee,  Scotland,  where  she 
taught  for  five  years,  and  passed  successful  examinations  in  this 
capacity.  Her  father  had  strong  scientific  tastes,  and  was  the  first 
man  in  Dundee  to  take  a  practical  interest  in  introducing  the 
daguerreotype  process  into  that  city.  Miss  Maury,  also,  has  marked 
scientific  ability.  She  is  a  granddaughter  of  that  Lieutenant  Maury 
whose  meteorological  work  has  been  of  infinite  value  to  seamen 


28o 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR 


on  the  Atlantic;  she  is  a  neice  of  Dr.  Henry  Draper,  and  before 
coming  to  Cambridge  was  graduated  from  Vassar  College. 

Mrs.  Fleming’s  brief  reports  of  discoveries  made  by  her  are  sent  to 
the  Astronomischen  Nachrichten,  and  other  astronomical  journals, 
over  the  simple  signature,  “  M.  Fleming;”  but  her  work  is  well- 
known  to  astronomers  as  that  of  a  woman.  The  extent  to  which  it 
is  appreciated  may  be  judged  by  an  extract  from  a  review  which 
appeared  last  October  in  The  Observatory ,  the  regular  publication 
issued  at  the  Royal  Observatory,  Greenwich,  England: 

“  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  too  much  in  praise  of  the  zeal  and  skill  with 
which  the  great  work  (the  catalogue)  has  been  accomplished.  The  name  of 
Mrs.  Fleming  is  already  well  known  to  the  world  as  that  of  a  brilliant  dis¬ 
coverer,  but  the  present  volume  shows  that  she  can  do  real  hard  work  as 
well.” 

Of  the  11  Draper  Memorial,”  it  may  be  said  that  no  scientific  man 
ever  had  a  nobler  memorial  than  this.  The  catalogue  itself  is  unique. 
In  the  words  of  a  recent  review  above  quoted: 

“  Hitherto  catalogues  have  been  made  of  the  positions  and  geometrical 
characteristics  of  nebulae;  but  a  general  index  to  the  physical  nature  of  10,000 
objects  is  a  novelty  of  the  first  importance,  and  cannot  well  fail  of  its  avowed 
object.” 


WOMEN  IN  PHILANTHROPY, 
CHURCH  WORK,  HOME 
MISSIONS  AND 
CHARITIES. 


“For  one  woman  who  affronts  her  kind 
By  wicked  passions  and  remorseless  hate, 

A  thousand  make  amends  in  age  and  youth, 

By  neavenly  pity,  by  sweet  sympathy, 

By  patient  kindness,  by  enduring  truth, 

By  love  supremest  in  adversity.” 

Woman  has  always  been  the  leader  in  philanthropic  and  Christian 
enterprises.  The  doors  of  benevolent  effort  have  always  opened  at 
her  approach.  Brief  mention  only  can  be  made  in  this  volume  of 
some  of  the  most  important  charities  started  and  guided  by  her  help¬ 
ing  hand. 

Miss  Frances  E.  Willard,  whose  name  has  become  almost  synono- 
mous  with  the  word  philanthropy,  states  with  convincing  facts  the 
“  Progress  of  Woman.” 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore,  tells  the  pathetic  and  patriotic  story  of 
‘‘  The  Work  of  Women  during  the  War.” 

Mrs.  Amelia  S.  Quinton,  relates  with  authoritative  information  the 
“  Work  of  Women  for  the  Indians.” 

Mrs.  J.  C.  Croly,  describes  the  ‘‘Women’s  Clubs  of  America,” 
revealing  the  surprising  growth  of  this  movement;  and  Mrs.  J.  Ellen 
Foster  presents  the  ‘‘  Influence  of  Women  in  American  Politics,” 
with  vigorous  force. 

Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge,  gives  an  admirable  exposition  of  ‘‘Work¬ 
ing  Girls’  Clubs,”  and  Mrs.  Frances  J.  Barnes,  contributes  interesting 
details  of  the  work  of  ‘‘Young  Women’s  Christian  Temperance 
Societies. 

In  connection  with  notes  of  Church  Work,  Missions,  Hospitals, 
and  other  charities,  Sarah  Dubois  furnishes  a  brief  sketch  of  Mrs. 
Doremus,  ‘‘The  Mother  of  Missions,”  and  Miss  L.  Elizabeth  Price 
vividly  outlines  the  unselfish  ministrations  of  Dorothea  Dix.  Mrs. 
Charles  Henrotin  touches  upon  salient  points  of  character  in  her 
sketches  of  two  women  of  the  West,  and  in  this  Department  of  the 
Souvenir  statistics  of  various  lines  of  philanthropic  work  are  briefly 
stated. 


Miss  Prances  E.  Willard. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


WOMAN’S  PROGRESS. 


BY  FRANCES  E.  WILLARD.* 


ONSIDER  the  fact  that  more  than  eighty-two  per  cent,  of  all 


our  public  school  teachers  are  women;  that  over  200  colleges 
have  now  over  4,000  women  students;  that  industrial  schools  for 
girls  are  being  founded  in  almost  every  state;  that  hardly  a  score  of 
colleges  in  all  the  nation  still  exclude  us,  and  that  these  begin  to 
look  sheepish  and  speak  in  tones  apologetic,  while  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  was  lately  opened,  Barnard  College  in  New  York  is  the 
annex  to  magnificent  Columbia,  and  the  Methodist  University  of 
Washington,  D.  C.,  the  Leland  Stanford  and  Chicago  Universities, 
with  countless  millions  back  of  them,  are,  in  all  their  departments,  in¬ 
cluding  divinity,  to  be  open  to  women.  Reflect  that  we  are  admitted 
to  the  theological  seminaries  of  the  Methodist,  Congregational  and 
Universalist  communions;  that  the  Free  Baptist  and  several  other 
churches  now  welcome  women  delegates  to  their  highest  councils, 
while  we  vote  in  the  local  assembly  of  almost  every  church  in 
Christendom,  except  the  Catholic;  and  that,  while  some  of  us  were 
rejected  as  delegates  by  the  General  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
in  1888,  that  body  submitted  the  question  to  a  vote  of  2,000,000 
Methodists,  and  sixty-two  per  cent,  of  those  “present  and  voting,’’ 
declared  in  favor  of  complete  equality  within  the  “  Household  of 


Faith.’’ 


Besides  all  this,  remember  that  the  order  of  deaconesses  is  now 
recognized  in  the  Episcopal  and  Methodist  churches,  and  is  prac¬ 
tically  certain  to  be  withiq  this  year  by  Presbyterians;  that  a  simple, 
reasonable  costume  is  ensured  to  those  who  enter  upon  this  vocation, 


*  President  World’s  and  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Philanthropist  and  Author 


284 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


and  they  are  to  be  cared  for  in  sickness  and  age,  thus  being  at  one 
stroke  relieved  of  a  lifetime’s  care  in  return  for  their  service  to 
humanity.  Pass  in  review  the  philanthropies  of  women — involving 
not  fewer  than  sixty  societies  of  national  scope  or  value,  with  their 
hundreds  of  state  and  tens  of  thousands  of  local  auxiliaries  both 
North  and  South,  and  the  countless  local  boards  organized  to  help 
the  defective,  dependent,  and  delinquent  classes  in  town  and  city 
(all  of  whom  would  be  stronger  if  each  class  were  correlated  nation¬ 
ally);  study  the  “college  settlements’’  or  colonies  of  college  women 
who  establish  themselves  in  the  poorer  parts  of  the  great  cities,  and 
work  on  the  plan  of  Toynbee  Hall,  London;  think  of  the  Women’s 
Protective  Agencies,  Women’s  Sanitary  Associations  and  Exchanges, 
Industrial  Schools  and  Societies  for  Physical  Culture,  all  of  which 
are  but  clusters  on  the  heavy-laden  boughs  of  the  Christian  civiliza¬ 
tion,  which  raises  woman  up,  and  with  her,  lifts  toward  heaven  the 
world. 

Contemplate  the  Women’s  Foreign  and  Home  Missionary  Socie¬ 
ties,  relative  to  which  an  expert  tells  us  that  the  first  was  “organized 
about  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and  now  most  of  the  denominations 
have  both  associations,  with  a  contributing  membership  of  about 
one  and  one-half  millions.  They  circulate  about  125,000  copies 
of  missionary  papers,  besides  millions  of  pages  of  leaflets.  They 
hold  at  least  a  half-million  missionary  meetings  every  year, 
presided  over  by  women,  the  addresses  made  and  papers  read 
by  the  sisterhood  that,  forty  years  ago,  would  no  sooner  have 
thought  of  doing  such  a  work  than  they  would  of  taking  a  journey  to 
the  moon.  They  raise  and  distribute  about  two  millions  of  money 
every  year,  and  these  several  boards  scan  each  little  investment  with 
as  much  care  as  if  a  fortune  were  to  be  made  in  discovering  an  error 
in  the  accounts.” 

Marshal  in  blessed  array  the  King’s  Daughters,  200,000  strong, 
with  their  hallowed  motto,  “  In  His  Name;  ”  the  Society  of  Chris¬ 
tian  Endeavor,  with  its  immense  contingent  of  women;  reflect  that  a 
woman  spoke  before  the  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Society,  at  its 
late  meeting,  in  the  presence  of  distinguished  prelates  of  that 
church,  which,  while  beyond  most  others  utilizing  the  money, 
devotion  and  work  of  women,  is  most  conservative  of  all  when 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


285 


their  public  efforts  are  concerned.  Remember  the  pathetic  figure  of 
our  beloved  little  Pundita  Ramabai  as  she  stood  pleading  the  cause 
of  high-caste  Hindoo  widows  upon  our  platforms  a  few  years  ago, 
and  rejoice  that  in  her  school  at  Poona  the  dream  is  coming  true. 

Surely  time  has  neither  been  ‘  ‘  killed  ’  ’  nor  ‘  ‘  spent,  ’  ’  but 
blessedly  invested  by  all  these  shining  marks  of  “  women  at  work  ” 
for  God  and  for  humanity. 

Every  woman  who  vacates  a  place  in  the  teachers’  ranks  and 
enters  an  unusual  line  of  work,  does  two  excellent  things:  she 
makes  room  for  someone  waiting  for  a  place  and  helps  to  open  a 
new  vocation  for  herself  and  other  women.  In  view  of  this,  con 
sider  what  it  means  to  all  of  us,  that  women  have  now  taken  their 
places  successfully  in  almost  every  rank  from  author  and  artist, 
lecturer  and  journalist,  to  dentist  and  barber,  farmer  and  ranchman, 
stock-holder  and  steam -boat  captain. 

Concerning  this  tremendous  evolution,  I  tried  in  vain  to  get  the 
footings  of  the  late  United  State  Census. 

Statistics  give  5,500,000  women  as  the  number  who  earn  their 
own  living  by  industrial  pursuits  in  Germany;  4,000,000  in  England, 
3,750,000  in  France,  about  the  same  number  in  Austro- Hungary, 
and  in  America,  over  2,700,000. 

This  much  I  can  give  of  my  own  knowledge  in  the  way  of  de¬ 
tailed  statement  concerning  women’s  work:  The  Women’s  Temper¬ 
ance  Publishing  Association,  Chicago,  with  its  annual  issue  of  from 
120,000,000  to  125,000,000  pages,  an  institution  in  which  women 
own  all  the  stock,  constitute  the  Board  of  Directors,  do  all  the  edit¬ 
ing,  and  a  woman,  Mrs.  F.  H.  Rastall,  is  the  business  manager 
and  handled  in  her  first  year  of  service  in  that  position  over 
$200,000. 

Women,  led  by  Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse,  have  erected  in  Chicago  a 
temple  costing  $1,100,000,  not  for  show  and  not  for  glory,  but  to  af¬ 
ford  by  its  rentals  the  wherewithal  to  carry  on  their  work  of  philan¬ 
thropy  and  reform  throughout  the  nation.  Societies  of  women  are 
now  very  generally  planning  for  buildings  of  their  own  in  leading 
towns  and  cities. 

The  business  women  of  the  country  have  a  first-class  journal  under 
the  care  of  Miss  Mary  F.  Seymour,  38  Park  Row,  New  York,  and 


2S6 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


The  Woman' s  Journal,  Boston,  and  Woman’s  Tribune,  Wash¬ 
ington,  are,  with  The  Union  Signal,  of  Chicago,  the  Church 
Union,  of  New  York,  and  The  Home  Maker,  edited  by  Mrs. 
J.  C.  Croly,  (Jennie  June),  the  guiding  journalistic  lights  of  our 
advance. 

Recently,  in  Gotham,  women  have  formed  a  society  for  political 
study,  and  have  organized  the  Ladies’  Health  Protective  Association 
in  that  untidy  town.  In  several  states  they  have  engineered  laws 
through  the  legislature  whereby  women  physicians  have  positions  and 
salaries  in  several  State  institutions.  Women  have  also,  and  notably 
within  the  last  three  years,  secured  laws  for  the  better  protection  of 
their  own  sex;  have  immeasurably  increased  the  property  rights  of 
married  women  and  their  rights  to  their  children  under  the  law;  have 
obtained  appropriations  for  reformatories  for  women  and  homes  for 
those  morally  degraded. 

Women  are  now  on  the  county  and  city  school  boards  of  Chicago; 
they  are  sanitary  inspectors  in  that  municipality;  they  are  police 
matrons  in  nearly  all  our  large  cities,  and  even  London  is  moving  in 
the  same  direction;  they  have  been  delegates  to  the  Prohibition 
Party’s  National  Convention,  and  to  the  recent  great  convention  of 
the  Farmer’s  Alliance  in  Ocala,  Fla.;  while  in  the  late  Presidential 
campaign,  Republican  clubs  of  women  were  organized  by  a  national 
committee,  the  Democratic  party  being  the  only  one  that  has 
not  yet  nationally  given  token  of  marching  with  the  age  in  which 
it  lives. 

For  the  first  time  in  history,  the  World’s  Fair  has  a  separate  com¬ 
mission  of  women  provided  and  provided  for  by  the  United  States 
Government,  and,  to  crown  all,  two  dauntless  women  have  spun 
around  this  little  planet  in  about  ten  weeks,  while  the  prospect  is  that, 
by  air-ship,  we  shall  all  spin  around  in  five  days,  or  thereabouts,  within 
the  next  decade. 

The  air  of  these  last  days  is  electric  with  delightful  tidings.  In 
New  York  City,  such  leaders  as  Mary  Putnam  Jacobi  and  Mrs. 
Agnew  have  rallied  around  Dr.  Emma  Kempin,  the  learned  lawyer 
from  Lausanne,  and  are  helping  to  make  it  easier  for  women  to  enter 
the  learned  profession  that  has  been  most  thickly  hedged  away  from 
them.  In  Baltimore,  Miss  Mary  Garrett,  the  most  progressive 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


287 


woman  of  wealth  that  our  country  has  produced,  leads  the  move¬ 
ment  that  will  yet  open  John  Hopkins  University  to  us,  and  has 
already  mortgaged  its  medical  college  to  the  admission  of  women. 
In  the  recent  National  Convention  of  Public  School  Teachers, 
women  were  made  vice-presidents  for  the  first  time,  and  given  an 
equal  voice  in  all  proceedings,  while  the  International  Sunday-school 
Convention,  that  meets  but  once  in  three  years,  made  a  similar 
advance,  and  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society,  that  has  enrolled  in 
the  last  ten  years  over  750,  000  men  and  women,  places  the  sexes 
side  by  side  in  all  its  purposes  and  plans.  On  the  platform  of  the 
Massachusetts  Women  Suffragists,  two  weeks  ago,  sat,  and  in  its 
programme  participated,  ladies  representing  the  alumnse  of  Mount 
Holyoke  College,  no  longer  a  “  Female  Seminary,”  be  it  thankfully 
observed;  also  Vassar  and  Wellesley;  a  tableau  that  in  view  of 
inherent  college  conservatism,  could  not  have  been  furnished  for  our 
rejoicing  eyes,  had  not  the  disinthralment  of  women  become  a  most 
respectable  and  already  a  well-nigh  triumphant  reform. 

Compare  the  significance  of  that  spectacle  with  the  first  announce¬ 
ment  by  Mrs.  Emma  Willard  in  1819,  when  she  submitted  to  the 
New  York  Legislature  her  plan  for  the  higher  education  of  girls — 
the  very  first  on  record  in  this  country — but  emphatically  declared 
that  she  wished  to  produce  no  “college-bred  females,”  and  that 
there  should  be  no  “exhibitions”  in  her  school,  since  “public 
speaking  forms  no  part  of  female  education.” 

Seeing  those  three  wise  college  women  seated  in  Tremont 
Temple  beside  Lucy  Stone  two  weeks  ago,  one  could  hardly  believe 
that,  as  Mrs.  May  Wright  Sewall  tells  us,  Harvard  College  was 
founded  153  years  before  the  slightest  provision  for  the  education  of 
girls  was  made  by  Massachusetts;  or  that,  for  135  years  after  public 
schools  were  established  in  Boston  for  boys,  girls  were  not  even 
admitted  to  learn  reading  or  writing  “for  a  part  of  the  year.”  It 
has  taken  sixty  years  so  to  dignify  and  individualize  woman  as 
to  make  of  words  accepted  once,  epithets  that  refined  natures  now 
discard. 

Now  let  us  widen  the  outlook  to  its  utmost  and  see  what  forty 
years  have  wrought  along  the  picket  line  of  our  advance- — actual 
participation  in  the  government.  Nineteen  thousand  women  voted 


288 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


in  Boston  alone  on  a  decisive  school  question,  in  1888,  and  in  a 
driving  snow-storm.  Women  have  the  ballot  now  on  school 
questions  in  twenty-two  States,  have  municipal  and  school  suffrage  in 
Kansas  and  Oklahoma;  while  by  constitutional  enactment,  ratified  by 
a  vote  of  eight  to  one  among  the  people,  they  are  fully  disinthralled 
in  the  Free  Mountain  State  of  Wyoming.  Well  sang  a  woman  oi 
that  happy  commonwealth  on  the  day  of  its  admission  to  the  family 
of  States. 

The  first  republic  of  the  world 
Now  greets  the  day,  its  flag  unfurled 
To  the  pure  mountain  air. 

On  plains,  in  canyon,  shop,  and  mine, 

The  star  of  equal  rights  shall  shine 
From  its  blue  folds,  with  light  divine — 

A  symbol  bright  and  fair. 

John  Bright  said  that  agitation  is  but  “  the  marshalling  of  a  nation’s 
conscience  to  right  its  laws,”  and  in  this  large  view  every  patriotic 
woman  must  perceive  her  duty  to  be  made  willing  to  vote  if  she  is 
not  so  already.  The  new  United  States  Senator  from  Kansas  put 
the  point  pithily  in  a  recent  speech.  He  said: 

“At  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century  the  United  States  will  be 
governed  by  the  people  that  live  in  them.  When  that  good  time 
comes,  women  will  vote  and  men  quit  drinking.” 


Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


THE  WORK  OF  WOMEN  DURING  THE  WAR. 


BY  MARY  A.  LIVERMORE.* 


HE  great  uprising  among  men  in  April,  1861,  who  ignored  party 


1  and  politics,  and  forgot  sect  and  trade,  in  the  fervor  of  their 
quickened  love  of  country,  was  paralleled  by  a  similar  uprising  among 
women.  The  patriotic  speech  and  song  which  fired  the  blood  of 
men,  and  led  them  to  enter  the  lists  as  soldiers,  nourished  the  self- 
sacrifice  of  women,  and  stimulated  them  to  the  collection  of  hospital 
supplies,  and  to  brave  the  horrors  and  hardships  of  hospital  life. 

If  men  responded  to  the  call  of  the  country  when  it  demanded  sol¬ 
diers  by  the  hundred  thousand,  women  planned  money-making 
enterprises,  whose  vastness  of  conception,  and  good  business  manage¬ 
ment,  yielded  millions  of  dollars  to  be  expended  in  the  interest  of 
sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  If  men  faltered  not,  and  went  gaily  to 
death,  that  slavery  might  be  exterminated,  and  the  United  States  re¬ 
main  intact  and  undivided,  women  strengthened  them  by  accepting 
the  policy  of  the  Government  uncomplainingly.  When  the  telegraph 
recorded  for  the  country  “defeat”  instead  of  “victory,”  and  for 
their  beloved  “death”  instead  of  “ life,”  women  continued  to  give 
the  Government  their  faith,  and  patiently  worked  and  waited. 

The  transition  of  the  country  from  peace  to  the  tumult  and  waste 
of  war,  was  appalling  and  swift,  but  the  regeneration  of  its  women 
kept  pace  with  it.  They  lopped  off  superfluities,  retrenched  in  ex¬ 
penditures,  became  deaf  to  the  calls  of  pleasure,  and  heeded  not  the 
mandates  of  fashion.  The  incoming  patriotism  of  the  hour  swept 
them  to  the  loftiest  height  of  devotion,  and  they  were  eager  to  do,  to 
bear  or  to  suffer  for  the  beloved  country.  The  fetters  of  caste  and 


*  Author  of  "My  Recollections  of  the  War,"  etc. 


290 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


conventionalism  dropped  at  their  feet,  and  they  sat  together,  patric¬ 
ian  and  plebeian,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  and  scraped  lint,  and  rolled 
bandages,  or  made  garments  for  the  poorly-clad  soldiery. 

An  order  was  sent  to  Boston  for  5,000  shirts  for  the  Massachusetts 
tioops  at  the  South.  Every  church  in  the  city  sent  a  delegation  of 
needle-women  to  “Union  Hall,’’  heretofore  used  as  a  ball-room. 
The  Catholic  priests  detailed  500  sewing-girls  to  the  pious  work. 
Suburban  towns  rang  the  bells  of  the  town  halls  to  muster  the  seam¬ 
stresses.  The  plebeian  Irish  Catholic  of  South  Boston  ran  the  sew¬ 
ing-machine,  while  the  patrician  Protestant  of  Beacon  Street  basted, 
and  the  shirts  were  made  at  the  rate  of  1,000  a  day.  On  Thursday, 
Dorothea  Dix  sent  an  order  for  5,000  shirts  for  hospitals  in  Washing¬ 
ton.  On  Friday  they  were  cut,  made,  and  packed,  and  were  sent 
on  their  way  that  night.  Similar  events  were  of  constant  occurrence 
in  every  other  city.  The  zeal  and  devotion  of  women  no  more 
flagged  through  the  war  than  did  that  of  the  army  in  the  field.  They 
rose  to  the  height  of  every  emergency,  and  through  all  discourage¬ 
ments  and  reverses  maintained  a  sympathetic  unity  between  the 
soldiers  and  themselves  that  gave  to  the  former  a  marvellous 
heroism. 

‘  At  a  meeting  in  Washington  during  the  war,  called  in  the  interest 
of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  President  Lincoln  said:  “  I  am  not 
accustomed  to  use  the  language  of  eulogy.  I  have  never  studied 
the  art  of  paying  compliments  to  women,  but  I  must  say  that  if  all 
that  has  been  said  by  orators  and  poets  since  the  creation  of  the 
world  in  praise  of  women,  was  applied  to  the  women  of  America,  it 
would  not  do  them  justice  for  their  conduct  during  this  war.  I  will 
close  by  saying,  God  bless  the  women  of  America.” 

It  is  to  the  honor  of  American  women  that  they  confronted  the 
horrid  aspects  of  war  with  mighty  love  and  earnestness.  They  kept 
up  their  own  courage  and  that  of  their  countrymen  who  periled 
health  and  life  for  the  nation.  They  sent  the  love  and  impulses  of 
home  into  the  extended  ranks  of  the  army,  through  the  unceasing 
correspondence  they  maintained  with  “  the  boys  in  blue.”  They 
planned  largely,  and  toiled  untiringly,  and  with  steady  persistence  to 
the  end,  that  the  horrors  of  the  battle-field  might  be  mitigated,  and 
the  hospitals  abound  in  needed  comfort.  The  men  at  the  front  were 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


291 


sure  of  sympathy  from  the  homes,  and  knew  that  the  women  re¬ 
membered  them  with  sleepless  interest. 

After  the  battle  of  Antietam,  where  10,000  of  our  own  wounded 
were  left  on  the  field,  besides  a  large  number  of  the  enemy,  the 
Sanitary  Commission  distributed  “  28,763  pieces  of  dry  goods,  shirts, 
towels,  bed-ticks,  pillows,  etc.;  3,188  pounds  of  farina;  2,620  pounds 
of  condensed  milk;  5,000  pounds  of  beef-stock  and  canned  meats; 
3,000  bottles  of  wine  and  cordials;  4,000  sets  of  hospital  clothing; 
several  tons  of  lemons  and  other  fruit;  crackers,  tea,  sugar,  rubber 
cloth,  tin  cups,  chloroform,  opiates,  surgical  instruments,  and  other 
hospital  conveniences.  ’  ’ 

After  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  in  the  West,  where  nearly  as  many 
wounded  men  were  left  on  the  field  as  at  Antietam,  the  commission 
distributed  “11,448  shirts;  3,686  pairs  of  drawers;  3,592  pairs  of 
socks;  brandy,  whisky,  and  wine;  799  bottles  of  porter;  941  lemons; 
20,316  pounds  of  dried  fruit;  7,577  cans  of  fruit,  and  15,323  pounds 
of  farinaceous  food. 

Whence  came  these  hospital  supplies,  or  the  money  for  their  pur¬ 
chase  ?  They  were  gathered  by  the  loyal  women  of  the  North,  who 
organized  themselves  into  more  than  10,000  “aid  societies”  during 
the  war,  and  who  never  flagged  in  their  constancy  to  the  cause  of  the 
sick  and  wounded  soldier. 

As  rapidly  as  possible,  ‘  ‘  branches  ’  ’  of  the  United  States  Sanitary 
Commission  were  established  in  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Cincinnati,  Chicago  and  other  cities— ten  in  all.  Here  sub-depots  of 
sanitary  stores  were  maintained  and  into  these  the  10,000  Soldier’s  Aid 
Societies,  composed  of  women,  poured  their  never-ceasing  contribu¬ 
tions.  The  supplies  sent  to  these  ten  sub-depots  were  assorted,  re¬ 
packed,  stamped  with  the  mark  of  the  commision,  only  one  kind  of 
supplies  being  packed  in  a  box,  and  then  a  list  of  the  contents  was 
marked  on  the  outside.  The  boxes  were  then  stored,  subject  to  the 
requisitions  of  the  great  central  distributing  depots,  established  at 
Washington  and  Louisville.  Through  these  two  cities,  all  supplies 
of  every  kind  passed  to  the  troops  at  the  front,  who  were  contending 
with  the  enemy. 

For  these  were  needed  immense  sums  of  money,  and  the  latent, 
business  abilities  of  women  then  manifested  themselves.  They  went 


292 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


to  Washington  and  competed  with  men  for  government  contracts  for 
the  manufacture  of  army  clothing,  and  obtained  them.  When  their 
accounts  and  their  work  were  rigorously  inspected  by  the  War  De¬ 
partment  they  received  commendation  and  were  awarded  larger  con¬ 
tracts.  They  planned  great  money-making  enterprises,  whose 
largeness  of  conception  and  good  business  management  yielded 
millions  of  dollars,  to  be  expended  in  the  interest  of  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers. 

The  last  two  of  the  Colossal  Sanitary  Fairs,  held  in  New  York 
and  Philadelphia,  yielded  respectively,  $1,000,000  and  $1,200,000. 
Women  were  the  creators,  the  inspiration  and  the  great  energizing 
force  of  these  immense  fairs,  and  also,  from  first  to  last,  of  the  Sani¬ 
tary  Commission.  Said  Dr.  Bellows:  “There  was  nothing  wanting 
in  the  plans  of  the  women  of  the  Commission,  that  business  men 
commonly  think  peculiar  to  their  own  methods.”  Men  awoke  to  the 
consciousness  that  there  were  in  women  possibilities  and  potencies  of 
which  they  had  never  dreamed,  and  when  the  war  ended,  they  were 
willing  to  accord  to  them  opportunities  and  privileges  hitherto  re¬ 
fused.  Then  began  the  great  movements  for  the  education  of  women, 
the  enlargement  of  their  sphere  of  work,  their  entrance  into  public 
life,  and  the  repeal  of  laws  that  heretofore  had  blocked  their  way, 
which  has  glorified  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

In  the  very  beginning  of  the  war,  the  need  of  women  nurses  in 
the  army  hospitals  was  so  apparent  that  Secretary  Cameron  commis¬ 
sioned  Dorothea  Dix  to  detail  women  as  nurses,  and  it  was  expected 
that  their  names  would  be  placed  on  the  army  pay-roll.  Later,  his 
successor,  Secretary  Stanton,  empowered  Mrs.  Jane  C.  Hoge  and 
Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore,  associate  members  of  the  United  States 
Sanitary  Commission,  who  were  residents  of  Chicago,  to  detail  women 
nurses  to  Western  hospitals.  The  same  authority  was  bestowed  on 
the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  and  on  the  St.  Louis  Branch 
Commission.  Hundreds  of  women  served  in  the  hospitals,  on  the 
transports,  in  camps  and  on  battle  fields,  all  detailed  for  six  months 
or  longer,  and  many  working  through  the  whole  period  of  the 
war. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  an  examination  of  the  books  of  the  various 
commissions,  sanitary,  Christian,  State,  public  and  private,  was  made 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


293 


by  experts,  who  reported  that  the  aggregate  of  the  benefactions  of 
these  various  organizations,  in  money  and  supplies,  was  about 
$54,000,000,  all  voluntary  contributions  from  the  people.  Of  this 
amount  more  than  half  passed  through  the  agencies  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission,  and  was  mainly  collected  by  women.  Of  what  other 
nation  can  it  be  said  that  ‘  ‘  its  women  developed  a  heavenly  side  to 
war  ?  ’  ’ 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


WOMEN’S  WORK  FOR  INDIANS. 


BY  MRS.  AMELIA  S.  QUINTON.* 


RIOR  to  the  year  1879  the  condition  of  the  Indian  race  in  the 


United  States  had  not  won  the  attention  of  the  nation  at  large, 
nor  had  it  even  gained  the  interest  of  any  considerable  proportion  of 
the  church  membership.  Missions  at  various  points  among  Indians 
were  indeed  prosecuted,  and  their  needs,  as  well  as  the  success  of 
work  among  them,  had  deeply  stirred  the  missionaries  and  those  who 
sustained  or  sympathized  with  them,  but  the  number  of  these  two 
classes  was  a  small  minority  in  the  churches.  Great  political  wrongs 
and  oppressions  long  existing  were  still  in  vigorous  operation,  but 
were  known  to  comparatively  few  and  could  not  therefore  take  hold 
of  the  popular  mind.  A  wave  of  righteous  indignation  had  now  and 
then  in  a  community,  section  or  church  followed  some  extraordinary 
cruelty,  but  this  led  to  no  lasting  or  efficient  protest.  Even  so  flagrant 
cases  as  that  of  the  slaughter  by  soldiers  under  orders,  of  173  Piegans 
in  Montana,  ninety  of  them  women  and  fifty  children  under  twelve 
years  of  age, — on  mere  allegations  of  hostilities;  the  Sand  Creek 
massacre  of  Indians,  a  deed  which,  as  Bishop  Whipple  said,  would 
have  disgraced  a  tribe  in  Central  Africa;  the  expulsion  by  military 
force  of  the  Poncas  from  their  own  lands  in  Nebraska;  the  fraudulent 
possession  by  a  dozen  white  men  of  more  than  90,000  acres  of  land 
really  belonging  to  the  Indians  of  Round  Valley,  Cal. ;  the  confisca¬ 
tion  of  the  property  of  the  friendly,  loyal  Sisseton  and  Wahpeton 
Sioux,  and  their  indiscriminate  punishment  along  with  the  hostile 
Sioux,  were  known  to  few'  individuals,  and  had  made  no  real  impres¬ 
sion  on  our  comfortable  and  prosperous  nation.  Rings  of  selfish 


•President  of  The  Women’s  National  Indian  Association. 


Mrs.  Amelia  Stone  Quinton, 


/ 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


295 


politicians,  in  both  the  West  and  East,  portrayed  situations  more  or 
less  true  among  Indians, — frequently  seeming  to  plead  for  them, — 
secured  the  passage  of  Acts  of  Congress  bearing  grants  and  appro¬ 
priations  and  manipulated  these,  and  other  public  funds  and  lands,  in 
their  own  interest,  with  unblushing  effrontery. 

Nine  hundred  treaties  had  been  made  with  Indians  by  our  govern¬ 
ment  and  not  one,  as  we  have  often  been  told  by  eminent  public  men, 
was  ever  kept  by  us  or  first  broken  by  Indians.  \  As  expressed  in 
“Our  Work,”  a  late  publication  of  The  Women’s  National  Indian 
Association,  it  was  at  that  date  “Not  a  crime  in  law  to  kill  an  In¬ 
dian,  for  he  had  no  rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect. 
He  was  still  subject  to  enforced  removals  from  his  own  land;  he  was 
constantly  robbed;  the  United  States  Indian  agent  had  despotic 
power  over  him  and  could  suspend  all  trade  on  the  reservation,  could 
suspend  the  chief,  and  drive  off  or  arrest  all  visitors  whose  presence  he 
might  not  approve  or  desire.  The  Indian  could  not  make  contracts; 
he  could  not  himself  sell  anything  he  could  raise  or  manufacture,  ex¬ 
cept  to  the  trader  appointed  by  government;  he  had  no  legal  title  or 
interest  in  the  annual  productions  of  the  soil;  he  was  banished  to  wild 
reservations,  and  required  to  farm  where  farming  was  impossible  even 
to  instructed  farmers,  and  at  the  same  time  he  was  deprived  of  arms 
and  ammunition  for  hunting,  and  was  then  forbidden  to  leave  the 
reservation!  The  white  man  supplanted  him  in  trapping  and  hunt¬ 
ing,  in  the  seal  and  salmon  fisheries  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and,  though 
the  Indian  was  a  natural  herder  of  cattle,  it  was  made  a  felony  for 
him  to  sell  them.  Our  nation  practically  prohibited  all  lines  of  work 
natural  to  him,  and  falsified  its  promises  to  furnish  him  means  for 
farming,  the  one  kind  of  labor  prescribed  and  insisted  upon.  There 
was  ceaseless  oppression,  and  these  crimes  burn  with  a  lurid  light  in 
all  the  records  of  our  dealings  with  Indians. 

Such  a  state  of  affairs  could  not  last  in  a  Christian  nation.  It  was 
but  a  question  as  to  who  should  so  clearly  see  and  so  deeply  feel 
these  cruel  facts  as  widely  to  make  them  known,  to  publish  them  to 
the  people  and  thus  move  the  heart  of  the  humane,  waken  the  public 
conscience,  and  summon  the  soul  of  the  church  to  the  righteous  re¬ 
form  needed.  And  God  had  prepared  his  instruments.  A  body  of 
women  lived  who  should  respond  to  the  call,  as  was  believed,  when 


/ 


296 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


by  human  lips  it  should  come,  and  the  story  of  their  uprising  was  the 
sequel  of  this  faith.  The  story  resembles  that  of  all  moral  move¬ 
ments  that  come  in  ‘  the  fulness  of  time  ’  to  manifest  themselves  as  a 
part  of  the  divine  programme  of  the  world’s  redemption. 

Earnest  women  of  consecrated  purpose  everywhere  responded  to  the 
appeals  made,  many  of  them  well-known  in  Christian  work,  and  in 
the  social  and  literary  world.  A  catalogue  of  the  officers  and  mem¬ 
bers  would  include  the  names  of  wives,  sisters  and  daughters  of 
judges,  statesmen,  savants,  and  of  bishops  and  others  eminent  among 
the  clergy,  and  of  not  a  few  who  bear  honors  in  their  own  right. 
All  have  done  noble  and  effective  service  for  the  long-neglected  red 
man,  and  this  from  a  sense  of  loyalty  to  national  honor,  of  compas¬ 
sion  for  human  suffering,  from  a  deep  sense  of  obligation  to  make  at 
least  an  acknowledgment  of  the  atonement  due  for  the  unspeakable 
wrongs  of  the  past,  and  from  the  conviction  of  covenanted  duty  to 
win  our  native  heathen  to  Christian  faith  and  living. 

The  new  popular  movement  was  begun  in  the  spring  of  1879  by  a 
volunteer  committee  of  two  ladies  who,  with  the  help  of  the  friends 
they  won  to  aid  them,  sent  out  7,000  petitions  which,  in  a  roll  300 
feet  in  length,  containing  the  signatures  of  13,000  citizens,  was  pre¬ 
sented  to  President  Hayes  at  the  White  House,  and  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  February  14,  1880.  This  petition  said:  “We, 
the  undersigned  men  and  women  of  the  Uffited  States,  resident  in  or 
near - ,  do  most  respectfully  but  most  earnestly  request  the  Presi¬ 

dent  and  the  Houses  of  Congress  to  take  all  needful  steps  to  prevent 
the  encroachments  of  white  settlers  upon  the  Indian  territory,  and  to 
guard  the  Indians  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  which  have  been 
guaranteed  them  on  the  faith  of  the  nation. 

In  May  1880  two  other  ladies  were  added  to  the  volunteer  com¬ 
mittee,  though  the  four  did  not  meet  as  a  committee  until  the 
following  December,  the  two  continuing  their  work  meantime. 
During  the  summer  of  1880  a  second  petition  was  prepared  and  cir¬ 
culated  in  every  state  and  territory,  and  when  in  December  the 
committee  of  four  met,  four  others,  invited,  joined  them  and  the 
Central  Indian  Committee  was  organized.  These  eight  ladies  were 
Miss  Mary  L.  Bonney,  the  senior  principal  of  the  Chestnut  Street 
Female  Seminar)',  of  Philadelphia — later  the  wife  of  Thomas 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


297 


Rambaut,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. — who  originated  the  interest,  and  who 
provided  for  most  of  the  expense  of  the  early  work;  Mrs.  Amelia  S. 
Quinton,  the  general  secretary  from  the  first  month;  Mrs.  George 
Dana  Boardman,  that  day  elected  treasurer;  Mrs.  M.  J.  Chase; 
Miss  Frances  Lea;  Mrs.  Joshua  R.  Jones;  Mrs.  Margaretta  Shep¬ 
pard,  and  Mrs.  Edward  Cope. 

The  second  petition,  from  all  the  states,  and  with  more  than  50, 000 
names  appended,  and  the  memorial  letter,  were  carried  by  the  chair¬ 
man  and  secretary  to  Washington,  and  were  presented  by  Senator 
Dawes  of  Massachusetts  in  the  Senate  January  27th,  1881,  and  a  few 
days  later  in  the  House,  by  Hon.  Gilbert  De  La  Matyr.  The  me¬ 
morial  letter  of  that  date,  though  like  the  petition  still  asking  for  the 
observance  of  treaties,  began  to  foreshadow  the  new  Indian  policy 
which  was  soon  after  asked  for  by  the  association.  This  letter  said : 
“  Finally  your  petitioners  would  express  the  earnest  conviction  that 
the  nation  which  has  spent  $500,000,000  on  Indian  wars  growing 
out  of  the  violation  of  treaties,  can  best  afford  to  make  it  to  the  inter¬ 
est  of  the  Indian  tribes  among  us  voluntarily  to  become  citi¬ 
zens  of  the  United  States  and  not  by  the  coercion  of  Acts  of 
Congress.  ’  ’ 

In  June,  1881,  the  first  written  constitution  was  adopted,  an  execu¬ 
tive  board  was  elected,  and,  with  Miss  Bonney  as  president,  and  the 
addition  of  new  members,  the  society  became  The  Indian  Treaty 
Keeping  and  Protective  Association.  During  the  summer  “associate 
committees”  in  cities  of  central  and  western  New  York  were  found, 
in  the  autumn  public  meetings  were  inaugurated,  and  State  com¬ 
mittees  in  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island  and  Massachu¬ 
setts  were  secured  by  the  general  secretary,  these  latter  being 
reorganized  as  permanent  auxilaries  early  in  1882,  when  new  ones 
were  also  gained  in  other  states.  The  third  petition  signed  by 
100,000  citizens,  and  presented  February  21,  1882,  to  President 
Arthur,  and  later  by  Senator  Dawes  in  the  Senate,  was  as  follows: 
“We  the  undersigned  men  and  women  of  these  United  States  do 
most  respectfully,  but  most  earnestly  pray  our  President  and  your 
honorable  body: 

1.  “To  maintain  all  treaties  with  Indians  with  scrupulous  fidelity 
until  these  compacts  are  modified  or  abrogated  by  the  free  and  well 


298 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


considered  consent  of  the  Indian  tribes  who  are  also  parties  to  these 
treaties. 

2.  “  That  since  the  number  of  Indian  children  within  the  limits  of 
the  United  States  does  not  probably  exceed  60,000,  or  one- third  the 
number  of  children  in  the  public  schools  of  some  of  our  larger  cities; 
and  since  treaties  with  many  tribes  already  bind  our  government  to 
provide  a  teacher  for  every  thirty  Indian  children  among  these  tribes; 
therefore  we  pray  that  a  number  of  common  schools  sufficient  for  the 
education  of  every  child  of  every  tribe  may  be  provided  upon  their 
reservations,  and  that  industrial  schools  also  may  be  established 
among  them. 

3.  “We  pray  that  a  title  in  fee  simple  to  at  least  160  acres  of 
land  may  be  granted  to  any  Indian  within  the  reservation  occupied 
by  his  tribe  when  he  desires  to  hold  land  in  severalty,  and  that  said 
land  shall  be  inalienable  for  twenty  years. 

4.  “  We  also  earnestly  pray  for  the  recognition  of  Indian  person¬ 
ality  and  rights  under  the  law,  giving  to  Indians  the  protection  of  the 
law  of  the  United  States  for  their  persons  and  property,  and  holding 
them  strictly  amenable  to  these  laws;  also  giving  them  increased  en¬ 
couragements  to  industry,  and  opportunity  to  trade,  and  securing  to 
them  full  religious  liberty.” 

The  committee  of  ladies  who  presented  this  petition  to  President 
Arthur  at  the  White  House  were  Mrs.  Joseph  Hawley,  wife  of  the 
Connecticut  Senator,  Mrs.  Keifer,  wife  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House, 
and  the  secretary  of  the  association  who  was  chairman  of  this  com¬ 
mittee.  The  debate  in  the  Senate  over  this  petition  included  western 
objection  hotly  stated,  and  the  eloquent  defence  of  the  Massachusetts 
Senator  whose  work  for  Indians  is  immortal,  and  the  report  of  the 
discussion  filled  several  pages  of  the  Congressional  Record,  and  was 
widely  circulated  in  leaflet  form  by  the  association.  Soon  after  this 
date  the  name  of  the  association  was  changed  to  The  National  Indian 
Association. 

As  will  be  seen  important  changes  01  views  and  policy  were 
embodied  in  this  petition  of  February,  1882,  and  these  changes 
mark  an  era  in  Indian  affairs.  The  first  memorial  was  protective 
and  prayed  Congress  to  *  guard  the  Indians  in  the  enjoyment  of  all 
the  rights  guaranteed  them  on  the  faith  of  the  nation.”  The 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN 


299 


second  one  further  recognized  Indian  manhood,  petitioning  that 
treaties  should  not  be  violated,  ignored  or  altered  without  “  the 
mutual  and  free  consent  of  both  parties.”  The  third  memorial, 
while  in  its  opening  clause  breathing  the  essential  spirit  of  both  the 
first  and  the  second,  prayed  a  new  prayer  in  asking  for  universal 
Indian  education,  for  lands  in  severalty,  for  Indian  citizenship  and  the 
protection  of  law  for  all  Indians,  and  this  was  the  first  popular 
plea  for  this  radical  change  in  the  governmental  treatment  of  our 
aborigines.  The  initial  impulse  of  this  movement  had  been  an 
impassioned  outcry  for  justice,  and  the  faithful  carrying  out  of 
stipulations  supposed  to  be  for  the  welfare  of  the  Indian,  but  to 
the  officer  who  prepared  the  petitions  and  other  literature  of  the 
Association,  and  who  read  in  public  libraries  and  gained  information 
in  many  other  ways,  it  soon  became  clear  that  the  treaties  were 
often  frauds,  and  that  the  reservation  system  was  itself  the  greatest 
of  all  hindrances  to  Indian  civilization.  This  conviction  shaped  the 
third  petition,  was  embodied  in  press  articles,  with  growing  empha¬ 
sis,  was  early  shared  by  the  most  active  women  workers,  and  was 
soon  the  general  opinion  throughout  the  Association.  Many  things 
combined  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  popular  approval  of  this 
policy.  Besides  the  influence  of  the  reported  work  of  devoted 
missionaries  on  Indian  fields,  the  eloquent  pleading  of  Bishop 
Whipple  through  the  secular  press  had  begun  to  waken  new  interest 
regarding  the  red  man,  and,  before  this  third  petition  was  published, 
another,  a  woman  of  genius,  had  been  stirred  to  champion  the 
human  rights  of  the  oppressed  race.  Six  months  after  the  beginning 
of  the  movement,  whose  evolution  was  the  Women’s  National 
Indian  Association,  the  attention  of  Helen  Hunt  Jackson  was  called 
to  the  subject  of  Indian  wrongs,  as  she  told  the  writer,  by  a  conver¬ 
sation  with  an  officer  of  the  Indian  Department  of  Government/ 
and  from  her  pen  articles  of  thrilling  interest  soon  moved  the 
conscience  of  many  to  whom  the  Indian  had  previously  been  but  an 
unknown  barbarian.  The  dawning  success  of  the  experiment  of 
Indian  education  opened  in  the  East  in  1878  by  Capt.  Pratt’s  first 
efforts  among  the  Indian  prisoners  in  Florida,  and  of  his  later 
enlarged  work  at  Hampton,  Va.,  were  attracting  attention.  In 
June,  1881,  the  Association  and  its  friends  in  Philadelphia  first 


300 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


heard  the  recital  of  Ponca  wrongs  from  Mr.  Tibbies,  later  the  hus¬ 
band  of  Bright  Eyes,  whose  addresses  had  already  in  New  England 
won  an  influential  hearing.  All  these,  as  well  as  the  friends  gained 
directly  by  the  Association’s  work,  were  ready  to  swell  the  tide  of 
appeal  on  behalf  of  our  native  Americans,  and  all  at  once  approved 
or  soon  came  to  approve  the  policy  outlined  in  the  petition  of 
February,  1882,  while  Senator  Dawes  had  already  warmly  endorsed 
the  growing  thought  of  the  second  memorial  and  had  said  that  it 
had  suggested  to  himself  new  points  for  consideration.  Thus  by  all 
these  helps,  as  well  as  by  the  constant  labors  of  Senator  Dawes,  the 
later  wide  petitioning  of  the  Association,  and  the  work  of  the  Indian 
Rights  Association,  Indian  manhood  and  womanhood  came  to  be 
popularly  recognized  as  entided  to  the  same  rights  and  opportunities 
before  the  law  as  those  of  all  other  races  throughout  our  national 
borders. 

In  the  Summer  after  this  third  petition  was  presented  in  Congress, 
another  exceptionally  able  worker,  Miss  Alice  C.  Fletcher,  appeared 
on  a  Western  reservation  whither  she  had  gone  for  scientific  research, 
and  there  her  personal  observation  and  experience  among  Indians 
soon  moved  her  to  at  least  a  temporary  abandonment  of  ethnological 
study  and  turned  her  eastward  to  the  National  Capital  where  she 
wakened  much  thought  among  legislators,  and  later  drafted  a  bill 
which,  somewhat  modified,  became  law,  and  under  which  she  gave 
to  the  Omaha  tribe  lands  in  severalty  before  the  Dawes  Severalty 
Bill  was  written.  The  latter  measure  was  however  growing  in  the 
mind  of  the  New  England  Senator,  and  the  bill  which  bears  his  name, 
and  which  gave  to  all  Indians  the  right  to  obtain  lands  in  severalty 
and  citizenship,  became  the  law  of  the  land  in  March,  1887.  Of  the 
new  policy  therein  formulated  by  him  he  said,  in  a  popular  address 
»  still  in  print,  that  ‘  ‘  it  was  born  of  and  nursed  by  the  women  of  this 
Association.”  His  great  service  to  their  cause,  his  personal  state¬ 
ments  begining  in  January,  1881,  as  to  the  value  of  their  work,  ex¬ 
pressed  with  enconiums  which  cannot  be  forgotten,  form  a  cherished 
part  of  the  society’s  records  written  and  unwritten.” 

Near  the  close  of  1883  from  a  generous  courtesy  to  the  then  new 
Indian  Rights  Association,  of  gentlemen,  organized  by  Herbert 
Welsh  Esq.,  the  association  changed  its  name  to  The  Women’s 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


301 


National  Indian  Association,  and  began  preparation  for  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  stations  for  pioneer  missionary  work  in  tribes  unprovided 
with  religious  teaching  and  domestic  instruction.  The  decision  to 
add  this  work  was  made  because  it  was  ascertained  that  nearly  seventy 
tribes  and  separated  parts  of  tribes  were  yet  without  the  Gospel, 
though  in  a  land  of  fifteen  millions  of  Christians,  and  also  because  of 
the  conviction  that  the  tide  of  right  public  sentiment  was  now  so  strong 
that  land  in  severalty  and  legal  rights  would  surely  soon  be  given  to 
Indians.  Much  earnest  inquiry  was  made  as  to  whether  the  perman¬ 
ent  denominational  societies  might  not  divide  this  long  neglected 
field  among  themselves  and  undertake  this  additional  missionary 
work.  To  all  such  inquiries  but  one  answer  was  returned,  and  that 
was  that  in  these  societies  funds  were  wanting,  and  could  not  be 
gathered  for  the  purpose  without  imperiling  the  missions  already  in 
hand.  For  a  hundred  years  the  unsupplied  tribes  had  waited  for 
the  sin-lost  assurance  of  God’s  love  and  reconciliation,  and,  that  they 
might  not  die  without  this  assurance,  The  Women’s  National  Indian 
Association  consecratedly  determined  to  gather  funds  and  begin  the 
long  neglected  work  of  instructing  them  in  Christian  truths,  and  in 
home  and  industrial  arts,  and  the  divine  blessing  followed  this  de¬ 
cision.  With  trials  and  toils  and  with  the  usual  hindrances  and  dis¬ 
appointments  incident  to  all  missionary  work,  and  not  more  to  theirs 
than  to  that  of  others  among  Indians,  as  the  records  show,  these  women 
persevered  and  have  had  occasion  to  rejoice  in  missions  opened 
directly  or  indirectly  by  their  labors  at  more  than  thirty  stations, 
from  1884  to  1893.  The  plan  adopted  is  to  get  land,  by  purchase 
or  gift,  to  build  the  cottage  and  chapel,  to  establish  workers  in  them, 
and,  later,  to  give  all  to  the  permanent  society  by  that  date  able  and 
desirous  to  take  the  mission  for  permanent  care.  The  stations  have 
thus  been  transferred  to  the  Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Meth¬ 
odist  and  Moravian  Boards,  and  the  work  has  led  to  a  great  increase 
in  the  general  interest  in  Indian  missions,  as  well  as  to  a  great  in¬ 
crease  in  the  number  of  stations.  Scores  of  additional  ones  are  still 
needed  to  fully  provide  for  the  whole  unoccupied  field.  [See  the 
Association’s  “  Sketches  of  Delightful  Work,”  1893.] 

Boxes  of  clothing  and  other  goods,  sometimes  to  the  value  of 
$3,000  in  a  single  year,  have  also  been  sent  to  needy  tribes,  while  the 


302 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


very  interesting  department  of  Home  Building  by  loan  funds  has 
given  to  probably  ioo  Indians  neat,  civilized  homes  in  which  a  new 
Christian  home  life  has  been  set  up.  Hospital  work  has  been  done 
at  several  points,  and  supplies  of  books,  periodicals  and  many 
other  helps,  have  been  furnished  by  the  eleven  departments  of  the 
Association’s  practical  activities. 

The  growth  of  the  work,  for  that  of  an  organization  devoted  to  so 
small  a  class  as  our  quarter  of  a  million  of  Indians,  has  been  marked, 
and  branches,  officers  or  helpers  are  now  to  be  found  in  forty  states 
of  the  Union.  Miss  Bonney,  the  first  president  of  the  Association, 
from  a  great  pressure  of  duties  in  educational  work  resigned  her  office 
at  the  close  of  1884,  and  the  presidency  of  the  accomplished  Mrs. 
Mary  Lowe  Dickinson  which  followed  was  closed  by  ill  health  in 
1887,  since  which  date  the  writer,  till  then  continuing  the  work  of 
general  secretary,  has  been  continuously  re-elected  to  the  office. 
The  funds  expended  for  all  purposes  have  reached  of  late  $25,000 
per  annum,  though  not  all  used  are  ever  fully  reported  in  print. 

To  see  as  God  sees,  as  far  as  human  limitations  permit,  to  share 
His  moral  perception,  to  judge  with  His  judgment,  is  to  act  in  har¬ 
mony  with  His  nature,  and  so  to  achieve,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  the 
perfect  living,  and  to  do  the  utmost  that  is  possible  towards  moving 
others  in  the  perfect  way.  For  society  to  see  as  God  sees  would 
cleanse  human  nature  of  selfishness,  would  move  every  hand  to  help¬ 
ful  ministries,  would  lead  the  nations  to  righteous  legislation  and  to  the 
execution  of  the  law  of  love  alone.  That  vision  made  universal,  penal 
law  would  disappear,  as  all  occasion  for  it  would  cease,  and  statutes 
would  become  methods  of  love’s  working  alone.  It  results  then  that 
He  does  most  for  man  who  gives  by  word  or  deed  best  exposition  of 
the  thoughts  of  God,  and  all  history  is  one  great  chapter  of  proof  of 
this  truth.  To  recognize  this,  one  need  but  note  the  many  revolu¬ 
tions  made  in  human  society  by  the  reception  and  just  use  of  even 
one  divine  idea  in  ages  of  darkness.  How  thrones  have  crumbled 
and  tyrants  fallen  when  but  a  single  soul  has  come  to  be  the  trumpet 
of  a  single  thought  of  God;  and  how  nations  have  moved  from 
Stygian  night  into  sunny  morning  when  but  one  of  God’s  thoughts, 
somewhere  long  hungered  for,  has  risen  upon  them.  And  how  many 
of  these  eras  have  come  to  earth  since  Miriam  and  her  maidens  sang 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


3°3 


the  illumination  that  was  ‘  the  root  and  offspring  ’  of  going  out  from 
the  slavery  of  heathen  thought  into  the  inevitable  worship  of  the  God 
better  known,  though  the  thought  led  into  an  unknown  land.  How 
often,  too,  has  woman’s  inspiration  led  the  way,  or  clasped  behind 
the  throne  the  sceptred  hand  that,  lifted  by  her  lesser  grasp,  has 
opened  a  royal  gate  to  a  new  age.  Not  by  her  greater  inherited 
goodness  or  better  brain  has  woman  thus  wrought,  but  because  God 
makes  her  mother,  growth-nourisher,  love- parent  to  the  world’s 
mind,  to  guard,  to  watch,  to  feed,  to  lead  its  soul.  The  pages  of 
this  volume  cite  many  illustrations  of  this  divine  vocation  of  woman, 
and  of  the  gracious,  if  more  veiled  part  she  has  borne  in  statesman¬ 
ship.  The  annals  of  American  life  are  rich  with  radiant  portraitures 
of  noble  women  who  have  shone  not  only  in  the  home  as  mothers, 
wives  or  daughters  of  distinguished  patriots,  scholars,  statesmen,  but 
of  many  who  in  the  great  movements  of  the  age  have  had  a  regal 
share  in  the  divine  work  of  uplifting  moral  standards,  of  pointing  out 
sin  as  suicide;  for  love’s  sake  daring  to  voice  the  cry  of  the  oppressed, 
to  utter  God’s  protest  against  wrong  and  to  appeal  to  Caesar  to  right 
what  Caesar  should.  Such  have  overcome  natural  timidity  by  the 
mother  impulse  of  protection,  and  the  patriot  motive  of  defense 
against  foes,  impelled  by  the  conviction  that  injustice  is  the  slaughter 
of  a  people,  the  destruction  of  a  country.  Such  having  had  revealed 
to  them  beside  the  home  altar  or  in  the  sick  room  the  vision  of  God, 
hearing  His  whispers  apart  from  life’s  turmoil,  do  but  repeat  His  mes¬ 
sage  after  Him.  So  it  is  that  the  love  of  others,  the  protection  of 
society,  the  God-given  aspiration  for  the  universal  age  of  love  have 
been  women’s  inspiration  in  her  share  of  labor  for  the  world’s  help. 

It  was  thus  that  woman’s  quick  ear  in  the  midst  of  busy  work 
caught  the  wail  from  the  far  off  prairies  and  the  cry  of  many  dusky 
Rachels  mourning  for  their  children  perishing  by  the  white  man’s 
arm,  shuddering  that  their  homes  were  no  more  shelters  amidst  the 
oncoming  multitudes  of  the  hard  gold  seekers  of  our  race.  The 
moral  revolution  followed,  as  women  slowly*  toilfully  moved  and 
gathered  the  first  popular  protests  against  the  ghastly  wrongs  of  our 
aboriginal  race  and  organized  work  on  its  behalf  years  before  any 
other  society  existed  for  this  specific  purpose.  Christians  had  labored 
in  Christ’s  name  to  send  and  give  the  Gospel  to  the  tribes,  and  many 


3°4 


THE  HAT  10 HAL  EXPOSITIOH  SOUVENIR. 


years  of  faithful  work  on  lonely  fields  had  resulted;  but  it  was  especi¬ 
ally  to  women  that  the  divine  summons  came  to  make  known  both 
to  the  church  and  popularly,  through  press  and  pulpit,  and  to 
government,  the  appalling  political  oppressions  and  wants  of  the  red 
man,  and  to  begin  the  public  and  importunate  plea  that  he  too  might 
be  permitted  to  stand  as  free  as  any  other  man,  and  be  as  safe  in  the 
“  pursuit  of  life,  liberty  and  happiness.” 

And  now  as  result  of  the  tide  thus  started,  borne  on  by  many 
forces,  between  20,000  and  30,000  Indians  have  availed  themselves 
of  the  privileges  of  the  Dawes  Severalty  Law  and  are  now  free 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  One-half  the  Indian  children  of  the 
land  are  already  in  school,  and  provision  for  the  rest  will  surely  fol¬ 
low.  Of  the  250,000  Indians  200,000  are  self-supporting  by  civilized 
avocations,  and  the  seventy-one  military  posts,  which  a  few  years  ago 
watched  and  controlled  red  men,  are  now  reduced  to  ten.  Civil 
service  reform  already  controls  the  appointment  of  matrons,  teachers, 
physicians,  superintendents  and  assistant  superintendents,  and  its 
spirit  will  doubdess  soon  control  the  appointment  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs,  and  the  agents,  briefly  needed  dll  the  prerogatives 
of  citizenship  come  to  all  Indians. 

The  work  of  appeal  for  all  required  funds;  of  watching  against 
frauds  in  the  further  division  of  lands,  and  in  all  the  measures 
needed;  of  securing  the  full  protection  of  common  law,  long  due, 
and  the  work  of  sending  the  truths  of  God’s  decreed  redemption  to 
the  scores  of  still-waiting  tribes,  yet  remains.  In  this  unfinished 
labor  surely  patriotic  and  Christian  women  will  loyally,  promptly  and 
nobly  take  their  just  share. 


Mrs.  J.  C.  Croly. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


THE  WOMAN’S  CLUB  MOVEMENT. 


BY  J.  C.  CROLY.* 


HE  growth  of  the  Woman’s  Club  in  America  is  one  of  the  mar- 


1  vels  of  the  nineteenth  century,  which  has  produced  so  many 
marvels.  Beginning  as  an  experiment  hardly  more  than  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  it  has  grown  into  a  far-reaching  and  influential  move¬ 
ment;  not  by  the  external  forces  it  has  employed,  but  by  natural 
aggregation  and  the  universal  excellence  of  the  character  it  devel¬ 
oped  and  maintains.  Beginning  with  a  few  small  groups  of  quiet 
women,  the  interest  has  grown  until  it  is  estimated  that  there  are 
500  women’s  clubs  in  the  United  States,  with  an  aggregated 
membership  of  not  less  than  50,000  women. 

To  properly  estimate  this  advance  it  must  be  remembered  that 
previous  to  this  time  there  were  no  associated  movements  among 
women,  outside  the  church,  the  suffrage  and  the  anti-slavery  cause, 
and  these  were  combined  with,  if  they  were  not  controlled  by  men. 
Puritan  influence  aided  the  custom,  and  traditions  of  the  ages  in 
limiting  women  to  a  subordinate  place,  and  keeping  them  “  silent,” 
in  and  out  of  the  churches. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  the  new  movement  was  not  in  the  nature  of 
a  revolt,  but  has  been  more  like  an  awakening.  The  Central  Club 
idea  carried  with  it  nothing  belligerent — nothing  antagonistic — 
nothing  in  the  nature  of  a  demand,  or  an  assertion.  Its  spirit  was 
simple  unity,  fellowship  of  one  woman  with  another  on  a  platform  of 
professed  ignorance  and  sincere  desire  to  know. 

The  idea  met  with  instant  and  growing  response.  It  brought 

♦(Jennie  June)  Journalist  and  Author  of  “Talks  on  Women’s  Topics,”  “  Three  Manuals  of 
Work,”  etc. 


3°6 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


together  women  of  all  creeds — and  no  creed — women  of  diverse 
social  position  and  environment — women  of  widely  differing  oppor¬ 
tunities  and  degrees  of  culture,  and  made  of  them  an  harmonious 
body,  every  part  of  which  is  enriched  by  the  contribution  of  each  to 
the  whole. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  without  concerted  action,  without  direct 
means  of  communication  one  with  another,  all  the  clubs  seem  to 
have  been  animated  by  one  common  impulse,  viz:  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge,  improvement  in  methods  and  the  creation  of  higher 
standards  of  social  and  intellectual  life.  The  story  of  one  in  this 
respect  is  the  story  of  all,  and  is  really  the  history  of  a  great  inspira¬ 
tion  or  rather  the  development  of  desire  among  women  engaged 
mainly  in  domestic  duties,  for  the  exercise  of  mental  faculty  and  the 
cultivation  of  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  vital  questions  and 
issues.  This  has  been  accomplished  by  an  equally  common  deter¬ 
mination  to  avoid  those  religious  and  political  differences,  which 
separate  and  antagonize  common  interests,  and  to  cultivate  on  broad 
grounds,  the  spirit  of  unity  and  good  fellowship. 

This  club  idea  of  kinship  and  unity  on  the  basis  of  womanhood 
alone  is  distinctly  modem,  at  least,  so  far  as  any  practical  exemplifi¬ 
cation  of  it  is  concerned,  and  its  inculcation  has  created  a  new  social 
departure,  and  an  active,  many-sided  social  life,  before  almost 
unknown.  Its  glad  recognition  and  acceptance  can  only  be 
accounted  for  on  the  ground  of  its  supplying  an  almost  universally 
felt  want.  The  hearts  and  minds  of  women  absorbed  in  quiet  duties 
had  been  starved  by  the  meagre  food  afforded  them ;  and  the  enlarge¬ 
ment  fed  intellectual  desire,  and  latent  mental  capacity,  whose 
existence  had  hardly  heretofore  been  acknowledged. 

The  results  of  this  broader  life  have  been  of  far  greater  importance 
even  now,  than  could  have  been  anticipated.  Studies  have  been  pur¬ 
sued  by  thousands  of  women,  engrossed  by  other  cares,  with  an  ardor 
and  a  thoroughness  which  justifies  the  frequent  appellation  of  the 
club  as  the  “school  ”  of  the  middle-aged  women,  as  the  “  university 
extension”  of  the  home.  Knowledge  of,  and  practice  in  business 
methods  and  parliamentary  law  have  been  acquired,  a  wider  oudook 
obtained,  and  broader  points  of  view  from  which  to  consider  all  sub¬ 
jects.  both  great  and  small.  Incidentally  prejudice  has  been  removed, 


WHAT  AMERICA.  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


307 


and  fellowship  established  between  women  of  totally  diverse  opinions, 
habits,  modes  of  thought,  and  social  environment. 

The  change  incident  to  club  life  is  as  apparent  in  communities  as 
in  individuals.  In  place  of  the  old  stagnation  there  is  human  and  in¬ 
tellectual  activity,  of  which  the  woman’s  club  is  usually  the  centre. 
It  took  many  years  to  disabuse  the  public  mind  of  the  impression 
that  the  woman’s  club  was  not  the  old  type  of  man’s  club,  and  that 
it  was  not  a  stronghold  of  festering  discontent  and  agitation;  but  the 
total  disassociation  of  the  woman’s  club  proper  with  all  one-sided 
opinions,  cliques,  sectional,  political,  or  religious,  is  beginning  now 
to  be  understood,  and  the  influence  of  these  earnest,  clear-minded 
groups,  which  draw  no  lines  of  separation,  but  pursue  their  several 
ways  for  their  own  improvement,  and  the  betterment  of  the  race,  is 
beginning  to  be  markedly  felt. 

What  may  be  called  the  second  period  in  the  life  of  women’s  clubs 
and  their  growth  into  a  movement,  began  with  a  call  for  a  “  Conven¬ 
tion  of  Clubs,”  by  Sorosis,  the  first  exclusively  woman’s  club  in  this 
country,  to  celebrate  its  twenty-first  birthday.  Up  to  this  time, 
women’s  clubs,  so  called,  though  not  always  composed  entirely  of 
women,  had  only  known  an  isolated  life.  They  had  little  knowledge 
of  each  other,  or  of  the  extent  to  which  such  organizations  had  been 
formed;  they  had  only  a  local  history,  local  character,  and  local  influ¬ 
ence,  and  were  as  little  understood  as  they  were  known,  even  by  the 
majority  of  women. 

In  January,  1889,  Mrs.  Croly  proposed  that  Sorosis  celebrate  its 
twenty-first  birthday  by  a  convention  of  clubs,  and  in  accordance 
with  this  proposition  the  following  call  was  issued: 

“In  March  of  the  present  year  (1889),  Sorosis,  the  Pioneer 
Woman’s  Club,  attains  its  majority.  It  is  proposed  to  celebrate  its 
twenty-first  anniversary  by  a  convention  of  clubs,  to  meet  in  New 
York,  on  the  18th,  19th  and  20th  days  of  March  next,  and  in  pur¬ 
suance  of  this  object,  a  delegate  from  your  club  is  cordially  invited  to 
be  its  representative,  and  assist  by  a  report  of  your  methods  and  their 
results  in  furthering  the  larger  aims  of  the  convention.  These  are,  in 
brief: 

1.  The  enunciation  of  the  woman’s  club  idea,  and  its  point  of  de¬ 
parture  from  the  society. 


3°8 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


2.  To  obtain  accurate  data  of  the  extent  to  which  in  twenty-one 
years  club  life  has  grown  among  women. 

3.  In  what  it  consists,  and  how  it  differs  from  the  club  life  of  men. 

4.  The  methods  employed,  and  their  operation. 

5.  The  results  obtained,  and  the  prospect  of  the  future. 

6.  The  influences  which  women’s  clubs  have  exerted  upon  the 
communities  in  which  they  exist. 

The  associative  life  of  women  is  now  an  established  fact.  Steady 
growth  for  twenty-one  years,  and  the  continued  accessions  to  existing 
clubs  have  demonstrated  it.  This  life  has  produced  as  its  first  flower 
a  bond  of  fellowship  to  which  every  good  club-woman  responds. 

Mrs.  M.  Louise  Thomas,  president  Sorosis;  Mrs.  Wm,  Tod  Hel- 
muth,  chairman  executive  committee;  Mrs.  Ella  Dietz  Clymer,  cor¬ 
responding  secretary;  Mrs.  J.  C.  Croly,  chairman  committee  of  cor¬ 
respondence  for  the  convention. 

Ninety-six  clubs  were  addressed,  and  sixty-five  responded  by  send¬ 
ing  delegates.  In  pursuance  of  the  “  larger  aims,”  a  meeting  of  the 
delegates,  with  the  local  club,  and  its  committees  took  place  at  the 
Madison  Square  Theatre,  (kindly  lent  by  Mr.  A.  M.  Palmer  for  the 
purpose  of  the  convention),  on  Wednesday,  the  20th  of  March,  to 
lay  the  foundation  for  a  permanent  federation.  At  this  meeting  a 
committee  was  appointed  with  power  to  draft  a  constitution,  and 
present  a  plan  of  permanent  organization,  on  a  proposed  basis  of 
general  federation,  the  following  year. 

The  committee  consisted  of  the  following  ladies:  Ella  Dietz 
Clymer,  Jennie  C.  Croly,  M.  Louise  Thomas,  Charlotte  Emerson 
Brown,  Amelia  K.  Wing,  Mary  R.  Hall  and  Sophia  C.  Hoffman, 
representing  the  New  York  Sorosis,  the  Woman’s  Club  of  Brooklyn 
and  the  New  Century  Club  of  Philadelphia. 

This  first  convention  of  clubs,  the  ardent  zeal  and  enthusiasm 
of  delegates,  the  many-sided  character  it  revealed  in  its  reports  of 
club  work,  and  the  desirability  of  giving  voice  to,  and  making  history 
of  this  rapidly  growing  movement,  suggested  the  idea  of  a  journal 
devoted  to  literary  and  club  interests.  Such  a  periodical,  with  this 
avowed  object,  was  begun  in  the  Autumn  of  1889,  under  the  name 
of  “  The  Woman’s  Cycle.”  A  feature  of  it  was  a  directory  of  clubs 
and  record  of  club  work,  and  it  gave  at  once  an  immense  impulse  to 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WO  MAM 


309 


club  life  and  work,  while  revealing  to  a  larger  public  the  nature  and 
objects  of  this  new,  and  almost  unknown  quantity,  called  Women’s 
Clubs. 

The  first  convention  of  the  “  General  Federation”  met  by  invita¬ 
tion  of  Sorosis,  at  Scottish  Rite  Hall  in  New  Ycrk,  on  April  23rd, 
24th  and  25th,  1890.  It  was  presided  over  by  Mrs.  Ella  Dietz 
Clymer,  then  president  of  Sorosis,  and  brought  together  the  dele¬ 
gates  from  those  clubs  who  had  signified  their  intention  of  joining 
the  General  Federation. 

Sixty  clubs,  representing  eighteen  different  States,  participated  in 
this  ratification  convention,  adopted  a  constitution,  elected  officers, 
found  committees  and  established  the  General  Federation  of  Women’s 
Club’s  upon  a  permanent  basis.  An  entire  double  number  of  the 
Cycle  was  devoted  to  the  proceedings  of  this  great  organization 
gathering,  and  from  that  record  is  copied  the  following  editorial 
comment: 

“  The  significance  of  the  recent  gathering  of  representative  women 
assembled  to  form  a  General  Federation  of  Women’s  Clubs,  has  been 
felt  to  be  so  great  as  to  justify  the  sacrifice  of  minor  interests  and  the 
dedication  of  one  enlarged  issue  of  The  Cycle  to  convention  proceed¬ 
ings.  Perhaps  we  owe  an  apology  to  those  of  our  readers  and  sub¬ 
scribers  who  are  outside  the  pale  of  women’s  club  life,  but  we  need 
only  remind  them  of  the  failure  of  the  general  press  and  public  to 
realize  the  force  of  the  new  club  movement  as  a  factor  in  modern 
progress,  of  the  intellectual  enlargement  it  has  brought  to  women,  of 
the  faculties  it  has  discovered  and  urged  to  exercise,  of  the  stimulus 
it  has  given  to  an  intelligent  social  life,  without  in  the  least  detracting 
from  the  conscience  put  into  the  duties  of  wifehood  and  motherhood, 
to  justify  this  action.  It  is,  perhaps,  impossible  for  men  to  under¬ 
stand  the  narrow  groove  in  which  the  majority  of  women  have  been 
forced  in  times  not  long  past,  to  live  and  move  and  have  their  being. 
The  church  did  not  help  them  in  this  respect,  it  only  drew  the  lines 
of  separation  more  distinctly.  The  club  has  revealed  women  to  each 
other.  It  has  established  fellowship  on  purely  human  foundations, 
and  opened  the  doors  of  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  in  which  all 
differences  are  melted  in  a  simple  gospel  of  unity.  It  will  not  do 
anyone  any  hurt  to  read  the  proceedings  of  this  convention,  which 


-THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


310 

resulted  in  the  organization  of  a  federation,  representing  eighteen 
States  of  this  Union.  A  federation  on  a  purely  peaceful  basis,  com¬ 
posed  of  homelike,  lovable  women — women  who  are  delightful  in 
their  renewed  youth,  in  their  eagerness  to  know  what  there  is  that  is 
interesting  to  be  known,  and  who  whatever  their  status,  whatever 
their  degree  of  cultivation,  and  some,  like  the  president  of  the  new 
federation,  have  studied  Greek  and  graduated  in  all  the  “ologies,” 
still  find  in  *-he  interchange  of  their  club  life  food  for  mind  and 
soul.” 

The  constitution  as  adopted  declared,  “  The  object  of  the  General 
Federation  is  to  bring  into  communication  with  each  other  the  vari¬ 
ous  women’s  clubs  throughout  the  world,  in  order  that  they  may 
compare  methods  of  work,  and  become  mutually  helpful.” 

The  officers  elected  were:  President,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Emerson 
Brown,  East  Orange,  N.  J.;  Vice-president,  Mrs.  May  Wright  Se- 
wall,  Indianapolis,  Ind. ;  Recording  Secretary,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Croly, 
New  York,  N.  Y. ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Miss  Mary  B.  Temple, 
Knoxville,  Tenn. ;  Treasurer,  Mrs.  Phoebe  A.  Hearst,  San  Fran¬ 
cisco,  Cal.,  and  sixty-three  vice-presidents  representing  as  many 
different  club  organizations. 

The  Advisary  Board  was  composed  of  Mrs.  Charlotte  Emerson 
Brown,  East  Orange,  N.  J. ;  Mrs.  Ella  Dietz  Clymer,  President  of 
Sorosis,  New  York  City;  Mrs.  J.  C.  Croley,  Sorosis,  New  York 
City;  Mrs.  Amelia  K.  Wing,  President  of  Brooklyn  Woman’s  Club; 
Mrs.  Fanny  P.  Palmer,  President  of  Rhode  Island  Woman’s  Club; 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Mumford,  President  of  New  Century  Club,  Phila¬ 
delphia,  Pa.;  Mrs.  May  Wright  Sewall,  President  of  Woman’s 
Club,  Indianapolis,  Ind.;  Mrs.  Harriet  H.  Robinson,  of  ‘‘Old  and 
New”  Club,  Malden,  Mass.;  Mrs.  Mabel  Smith,  President  of 
Woman’s  Club,  Jamaica,  L.  I. 

The  General  Federation  was  exceptionally  fortunate  in  its  choice 
of  President.  Mrs.  Charlotte  Emerson  Brown  was  fitted  by  nature 
and  education  for  its  duties,  and  responsibilities.  Understanding 
fully  the  many-sided  character  of  the  growing  body  with  which  she 
had  to  deal,  and  appreciating  its  possibilities,  she  devoted  her  entire 
time  for  two  years  to  building  up  the  General  Federation  on  the 
broad  lines  of  its  inception,  and  educating  the  club  sentiment  to 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


31 1 


which  the  formation  of  the  General  Federation  had  given  a  mighty 
impulse. 

In  the  two  years  between  the  Organization  Convention  at  Scottish 
Rite  Hall  in  1890,  and  the  first  Biennial  Convention  at  Chicago  in 
1892,  the  Federation  gained  an  aggregate  membership  of  upwards  of 
200  clubs,  representing  a  membership  ranging  from  fifteen  to  five 
hundred,  and  some  with  outgrowths  of  many  hundreds  more.  These 
clubs  covered  thirty-one  states,  and  to  the  list  must  be  added  far¬ 
away  India,  with  two  Federated  Women’s  Clubs;  one  in  Bombay 
founded  by  a  New  York  physician,  Dr.  Emma  Brainerd  Ryder,  and 
one  in  Ceylon,  also  the  result  of  Dr.  Ryder’s  efforts,  of  which  more 
must  be  said  later. 

This  rapid  growth  was  accelerated  by  the  Federation  system  of 
organization.  Under  this  method  the  president  of  a  Federated  Club 
became  a  vice-president  of  the  Federation.  A  Federation  corre¬ 
spondent  was  also  appointed  from  each  state,  whose  duty  it  was,  and 
is,  to  act  as  the  medium  of  communication  between  the  individual 
clubs  of  her  state  or  territorial  area,  and  the  Central  Board,  and  fur¬ 
nish  such  information  as  may  be  needed,  and  by  both  in  regard  to 
each  other.  These  correspondents  are  selected  for  their  ability  and 
devotion  to  club  interests,  and  have  proved  most  efficient. 

The  first  biennial  meeting  took  place  in  Chicago,  by  invitation  of 
the  Chicago  Woman’s  Club,  and  was  memorable. 

The  three  days  sessions  were  held  in  Central  Music  Hall,  and 
brought  together  crowded  audiences,  composed  of  the  best  people  of 
the  great  Western  city.  The  Chicago  Committee  consisted  of  the 
following  ladies: — Mrs.  J.  P.  Harvey,  Chairman,  Mrs.  James  M. 
Flower,  Mrs.  Celia  Parker  Woolley,  Mrs.  Caroline  K.  Sherman, 
Mrs.  Lucretia  M.  Heywood,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  H.  Ball,  Mrs.  Frances 
B.  Smith,  Dr.  Lelia  G.  Bedell,  Mrs.  William  Thayer  Brown,  Mrs. 
Geo.  W.  Huddleston. 

The  address  of  welcome  was  made  by  Mrs.  Sarah  Hackett  Steven¬ 
son,  M.  D.,  President  of  the  Chicago  Woman’s  Club;  the  response 
by  the  President  of  the  General  Federation,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Emerson 
Brown.  Some  features  of  the  programme  will  give  an  idea  of  the 
objects,  and  work  of  the  Federation. 

Reports  of  States  Committees  of  Correspondence;  Report  of 


312 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Committee  of  Club  Methods;  Report  of  Committee  on  Club  Inter¬ 
course  and  fellowship;  Papers,  and  discussion  upon  Helps  and  Hin¬ 
drances  in  the  organized  work  of  women;  A  Symposium  upon  “  Ed¬ 
ucational  Problems,”  divided  as  follows;  The  Educational  Influence 
of  Women’s  Clubs;  Club  Women  on  School  Boards,  and  Higher 
Education;  Classic  Study  in  our  Public  Schools;  University  Exten¬ 
sion;  The  Kindergarten. 

An  evening  was  given  to  addresses  by  Mrs.  Edna  D.  Cheney,  and 
Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  and  the  closing  address  was  made  by  Mrs. 
May  Wright  Sewall,  the  well-known  Western  Educator,  writer,  and 
club  woman. 

This  skeleton  of  part  of  the  more  important  features  conveys  no 
idea  of  the  spirit  of  this  brilliant  assemblage  of  refined,  intelligent, 
and  studious  women,  whose  leisure  is  devoted  to  intellectual  exercise, 
and  the  cultivation  of  the  higher  faculties,  but  who  are  essentially 
home-lovers,  home-keepers,  and  home-makers. 

Better  than  the  best  papers  were  the  “three-minute”  discussions 
upon  topics  in  which  all  were  interested,  and  which  were  like  sparks 
struck  from  an  anvil  in  their  vividness,  and  brightness. 

Conventions  however,  are  not  movements,  though  they  may  give 
voice  to  them.  The  evidences  of  the  growth  of  Women’s  Clubs 
into  the  dignity,  and  power  of  a  movement  appear,  first,  in  their  uni¬ 
versality,  second,  in  their  unity,  third,  in  the  character  of  their  re¬ 
sults,  and  the  influence  exerted  upon  individual,  and  social  life. 
Space  does  not  admit  of  anything  like  a  detailed  account  of  the  work 
of  clubs,  even  in  its  more  public  aspects.  In  general  terms  it  may 
truthfully  be  said  to  have  changed  the  tone  of  whole  communities, 
and  raised  it  to  a  higher  intellectual,  and  social  level.  It  has  taught 
women  how  to  think,  how  to  speak,  how  to  act,  for  the  best  good  of 
the  community  in  which  they  live.  It  has  made  them  acquainted 
with  the  best  work,  the  best  ideas,  and  the  great  thinkers  of  their 
own,  and  all  times.  It  has  taught  them  values,  and  proportion,  and 
the  historic  continuity  of  events,  thus  forming  a  basis  for  a  new  con¬ 
ception  of  the  philosophy  of  life,  and  duty,  and  destroying  prejudice. 

It  has  created  schools,  built  libraries  and  made  unnumbered 
towns  and  villages,  formerly  stagnant,  centres  of  intellectual  light 
and  activity. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


313 


It  would  be  easy  to  enumerate  such  important  achievements  as 
the  building  of  club-houses  and  institutes,  such  as  the  “Athaneum, 
of  Milwaukee,  the  “  Proplyleum,”  of  Indianapolis  and  the  New 
Century  Club-house  of  Philadelphia,  the  club-house  at  Grand  Rapids 
and  others.  But  after  all,  the  best  result  of  the  work  of  women’s 
clubs  has  been  seen  in  the  new  life  of  the  small  towns,  the  move¬ 
ment  in  the  stagnant  waters  of  quiet  village  neighborhoods,  in  the 
uplifting  influence  of  the  higher  thought  and  the  fellowship  estab¬ 
lished  among  women  of  totally  distinct  habits,  ideas  and  opinions. 

“Unity  in  Diversity”  is  the  motto  of  the  General  Federation, 
and  the  central  idea,  sympathy  with  what  one  does  not  like,  there 
being  no  modern,  or  club  virtue  in  sympathy  with  what  one  does 
like. 

Naturally  there  are  great  diversities  in  clubs  in  different  neighbor¬ 
hoods,  and  different  parts  of  the  country,  but  they  are  usually 
differences  of  detail,  not  of  basis  or  essential  principle.  A  curious 
and  predominant  element  in  the  woman’s  club  idea  is  its  flexibility 
and  ability  to  lend  itself  to  the  needs  of  its  locality  and  the  growth 
of  the  membership.  From  the  first  it  has  been  free  and  instinctively 
resisted  all  attempts  to  bind  it  to  individual  hobbies,  convictions  and 
opinions. 

The  objects  have  been  mainly  educational,  and  the  creation 
of  whatever  was  needed  as  aids  and  stimulus  to  a  fuller,  better  and 
more  rounded  life.  Some  clubs  have  done  more  than  others  in 
philanthropic  directions,  particularly  in  the  farther  West,  where 
organization  for  the  benefit  of  women  and  children,  and  neighbor¬ 
hood  improvement  hardly  existed  until  the  Woman’s  Club  created 
it.  Among  the  outgrowths  are  Protective  and  Educational  Unions; 
Provident  Funds;  Study  Classes;  Reading-rooms  for  the  benefit  of 
working-women,  as  well  as  social  centres. 

The  Association  for  the  advancement  of  women  was  the  direct  out¬ 
growth  of  the  Mother  Club,  and  the  Working  Woman’s  Guild  of 
Philadelphia,  1,000  members  strong,  of  the  New  Century  Club,  of 
Philadelphia.  The  New  England  Woman’s  Club  has  done  much 
philanthropic  work.  It  started  the  movement  in  Boston,  which 
resulted  in  placing  women  on  the  school  boards,  and  established  the 
diet  kitchens.  The  features  of  the  New  England  Woman’s  Club  are 


3 1 4  THE  NA  TIONAL  EXPOSITION  SO  UVENIR. 

its  classes  and  its  Mondays.  Its  classes  are  formed  of  the  members, 
under  the  direction  of  some  one  gifted  in  leadership,  for  the  pursuit 
of  various  studies.  Its  Mondays  are  mainly  social,  and  its  “Teas” 
are  famous. 

The  Chicago  Woman’s  Club  is  one  of  the  broadest,  most  active  in 
the  country-.  Its  membership  list  numbers  about  500  ladies,  divided 
into  seven  departments.  “Reform,”  “Home,”  “Education,” 
“Art  and  Literature,”  “Philanthropy,”  “  Philosophy  and  Science.” 

These  departments  are  sub-divided  into  working  committees,  upon 
one  of  which  every  new  member  is  expected  to  enroll  herself  when 
she  enters  the  club.  This  system  has  made  it  a  strong  and  active 
working  club,  for  the  member  is  “dropped”  who  does  not  interest 
herself  in  one  of  its  departments. 

The  South  has  been  slow  in  adopting  the  club  idea,  which  found 
such  ready  recognition  at  the  East  and  West.  But  it  has  had  in 
New  Orleans,  since  1884,  one  of  the  best  all-round  clubs  to  be  found 
anywhere.  Energetic,  and  practical,  it  started  many  needed  aids  to 
improvement  in  social  and  industrial  conditions,  and  opened  its  doors 
to  representative  women  of  all  degrees,  many  of  them  self-supporting, 
who  had  been  reared  in  affluence,  and  others  anxious  to  learn  the 
secret  of  their  success. 

The  first  club  in  Tennessee  was  the  “  Ossoli  Circle”  in  Knoxville, 
but  Memphis  has  now  two  active,  progressive  club  organizations — 
The  Nineteenth  Century,  and  the  Woman’s  Club  of  Memphis. 

Georgia  has  in  Columbus  a  Woman’s  Press  Club  which  covers  the 
State,  and  has  won  a  name  beyond  it,  by  its  inspiring  leadership. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  outgrowths  of  club  organizations  are 
the  “Union  Clubs”  in  sparsely  settled  neighborhoods,  where  dis¬ 
tances  are  great,  and  home  duties  exacting.  One  of  these  is  the 
“Social  Science  Club,  of  Kansas  and  Western  Missouri.”  The 
meetings  are  semi-annual,  and  the  well  prepared  programmes,  admir¬ 
ably  classified  and  arranged,  represent  the  work  of  nine  committees. 
“Philanthropy  and  Reform,”  “Education,”  “Natural  Science,” 
“  History  and  Civil  Governments,”  “Art,”  “Archaeology',”  “Lit¬ 
erature,”  and  “Domestic  Economy'.”  The  work  has  been  wide, 
thoughtful  and  painstaking;  the  result  educational  in  the  best  sense. 

The  Woman’s  “  Literary' Union  ”  of  Portland,  Maine,  has  many 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


315 


features  in  common  with  the  Western  Association,  but  it  is  more  com¬ 
pact,  and  does  not  cover  so  wide  an  area.  Its  single  parts  consist  of 
organizations  in  nearer  communication  with  each  other  and  the  main 
body.  The  Woman’s  “  Literary  Union  ”  of  Portland  took  the  initial 
steps  in  forming  a  State  federation  for  Maine,  the  first  organized  in 
the  General  Federation,  although  it  will  probably  be  followed  by 
Massachusetts,  the  initial  steps  having  been  taken  to  that  end. 

I  cannot  close  a  sketch  of  this  movement,  necessarily  limited  and 
imperfect,  without  a  mention  of  its  far-reaching  character. 

A  New  York  woman  physician  who  accompanied  the  Hindoo 
Ramabai  to  India  (Dr.  Emma  Brainerd  Ryder)  started  a  club  in 
Bombay,  as  the  only  means  of  breaking  into  the  spirit  of  caste  so  in¬ 
flexible  in  the  East.  Into  a  club  of  fifty  native  and  European  women, 
which  has  grown  to  250,  she  has  gathered  six  different  castes,  the 
first  time  the  caste  spirit  has  been  overcome.  These  women  have 
found  a  new  life.  They  have  taken  for  a  motto  “THE  WORLD 
IS  MADE  FOR  WOMEN  ALSO,”  and  a  similar  club  has  now  been 
started  in  Ceylon.  Both  have  become  members  of  the  General 
Federation  in  this  country,  and  have  thus  united  the  women  of  the 
East  and  the  West. 

A  letter  received  from  a  member  of  a  woman’s  club  sums  up  its 
work  as  follows: 

“A  vigilant  pronunciation  committee  is  heard  from  before  the 
meeting  adjourns,  and  then  the  members  go  to  their  homes,  happy 
in  the  consciousness  that  each  one  is  watching  the  world  with  140 
pairs  of  eyes,  and  that  little  can  happen  in  literature,  politics,  science 
or  art  that  someone  will  not  bag  for  the  general  feast.” 

An  editorial  in  the  Chicago  Inter  Ocean  said  of  women  and 
women’s  clubs,  after  the  Biennial  Convention: 

“  No  one  could  have  viewed  the  brilliant  assembly  in  the  spacious 
rooms  of  the  Art  Institute,  Wednesday  evening,  without  a  buoyant 
feeling  of  pride  in  American  womanhood.  There  is  something  im¬ 
pressive  in  the  fact  of  a  federation  of  200  women’s  clubs,  numbering 
a  membership  of  nearly  30,000,  representing  the  manifold  interests 
of  the  home,  of  philanthropy,  of  reform,  of  education,  of  art  and 
literature,  of  science  and  philosophy;  and  there  is  something  inspir- 
ingly  beautiful  in  the  spectacle  of  numerous  delegates  from  these 


316 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


many  clubs  brought  together  by  moral,  intellectual  and  social 
affinities  to  confer  with  each  other  and  to  strengthen,  by  their 
united  sympathies,  the  influences  of  the  woman’s  movement,  that  is 
one  of  the  glories  of  the  end  of  the  century.” 

“  Chicago  may  count  herself  honored  in  this  extraordinary  gather¬ 
ing  of  notable  women,  the  like  of  which  was  never  seen  here  before. 
We  have  had  women’s  conventions  without  number,  and  have  seen 
conferences  of  women  for  the  discussion  of  every  subject  under  the 
sun;  but  this  is  the  first  time  we  have  ever  had  an  assembly  of 
hundreds  of  gifted  women  with  no  special  reform  to  agitate,  but 
representative  of  all  that  is  best  in  the  moral-intellectual  estimate  of 
and  incentive  to  human  progress.  In  this  concourse  we  see  an  em¬ 
phatic  and  comprehensive  demonstration  of  the  aphorism  that  this  is 
the  women’s  century,  since  it  is  impossible  to  study  the  faces  in 
which  the  animation  of  high  ideals,  resolute  purpose  and  mental  cul¬ 
ture  defines  the  purest  beauty  without  experiencing  the  conviction 
that  the  uplifting  and  on-sending  of  the  race  of  man  in  the  individual, 
and  of  mankind  in  the  mass,  is  no  more  the  work  of  sex  than  it  is  of 
sect,  and  that  in  the  great  domain  of  life,  woman  has  become  co-equal 
and  co-ordinate  with  man.  In  preceding  centuries  there  have  been 
instances  of  female  sovereignty  in  various  spheres  without  any 
general  improvement  of  the  condition  of  women.” 

The  story  is  told  of  a  lion  passing  a  monument  upon  which  was 
carved  in  relief  a  powerful  man  rending  asunder  the  jaws  of  a  lion, 
over  whose  prostrate  body  he  stood  triumphant.  Said  the  lion  ‘‘A 
man  made  that  picture;  had  a  lion  made  it,  the  position  would  have 
been  reversed.” 

Women  are  now  engaged  in  reversing  centuries  of  pictures. 

One  of  the  strongest  fears  expressed  in  regard  to  the  Woman’s 
Club  in  the  beginning  was  the  fear  that  it  would  tend  still  more  to 
the  separation  of  the  sexes.  This  result  has  not  followed.  On  the 
contrary  the  facts  seem  to  be  quite  the  other  way;  club  life  is  bring¬ 
ing  men  and  women  together. 

The  latest  outcome  of  the  Woman’s  Club  is  the  mixed  club  of 
men  and  women,  with  higher  standards  than  men’s  clubs  have 
before  known.  But  this  would  not  have  been  possible  had  not 
women  gained  knowledge  and  experience  in  clubs  of  their  own.  In 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


317 


its  different  phases,  its  all-round  character,  its  stimulating  and 
uplifting  influences  upon  communities,  the  Woman’s  Club  Move¬ 
ment  may  be  fairly  considered  the  most  progressive  and  inspiring 
of  this  nineteenth  century. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  WOMEN  IN  AMERICAN 

POLITICS. 

BY  MRS.  J.  ELLEN  FOSTER.* 

THE  foundation  of  this  republic  marks  an  era  which  may  well  be 
termed  the  American  Renaissance. 

Like  its  heroic  predecessor,  it  touches  every  feature  of  the  peoples’ 
life.  The  breath  of  liberty  vitalizes  all  powers  of  brain  and  muscle, 
heart  and  hand.  Individual  character,  social  conditions,  community 
interests,  education,  labor,  trade,  commerce  and  government  seek 
development  and  the  harmonious  adjustment  of  mutual  relations  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Golden  Rule. 

Applied  science  brings  the  forces  of  nature  to  man’s  sendee; 
applied  economics  gives  honest  labor  its  fair  share  of  wealth  pro¬ 
duced;  popular  education  makes  all  men  equal  competitors  for  all 
prizes;  applied  Christianity  cares  for  the  dependent  classes  and 
smooths  the  path  for  little  children’s  feet. 

Slowly — all  too  slowly  for  weary  limbs  and  aching  hearts,  is  being 
evolved  the  perfect  humanity  of  which  the  stoic  dreamed,  the 
prophets  spoke,  and  which  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  made  possible. 

This  evolution  is  perv  aded  by  woman' s  presence  and  mfiuence. 
There  were  heroic  women  in  colonial  days  and  in  the  revolutionary 
period.  There  were  strong,  true  women  who  pioneered  in  the  once 
new  West.  There  were  brave  loyal  women  in  the  Civil  War  who 
followed  the  army  to  the  field  and  in  the  hospital,  or  who  did  double 
duty  at  home,  on  the  farm  and  in  the  shop  that  brothers  and  hus¬ 
bands  might  be  free  for  the  dreadful  business  of  war. 

When  peace  came,  the  women  who  had  ploughed  in  the  field, 


*  President  “  Woman’s  Republican  Association  of  the  United  States.” 


Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


319 


sewed  in  the  home,  washed  at  the  tub,  scraped  lint  and  made  ban¬ 
dages  for  the  wounds  they  could  not  save,  and  in  every  possible  way 
had  met  the  demands  of  the  nation’s  agony,  these  same  women, 
having  learned  the  possibilities  of  their  united  ministrations  outside 
home  walls,  took  up  the  organization  of  missionary  and  temperance 
societies,  and  began  reforms  of  many  kinds;  they  built  fountains  for 
the  thirsty  and  planted  shade  trees  for  the  weary;  they  erected  hos¬ 
pitals,  orphan  asylums,  retreats  in  the  cities,  homes  by  the  sea  and 
on  the  hillside  for  waifs  and  overworked  shop  girls,  established  day 
nurseries  and  kindergartens  for  little  children,  and  helped  to  endow 
colleges  and  universities  for  young  men  and  young  women. 

In  these  works  of  charity,  philanthropy  and  reform,  woman’s 
leadership  is  undisputed;  but  it  is  within  a  comparatively  short  time 
that  these  humane  questions  have  demanded  a  place  in  the  forum  of 
legislative  action  and  administration.  With  the  growth  of  our  pop¬ 
ulation  and  its  diverse  character,  numberless  questions  arise  in  the 
solving  of  which,  women,  as  well  as  men,  are  greatly  interested. 

It  is  impossible  for  women  to  carry  movements  of  social  econo¬ 
mies  on  their  hearts  and  in  their  activities  up  to  the  point  of  the 
relation  of  these  questions  to  the  government  and  then  suddenly  let 
go  their  hold,  and  see  these  various  objects  of  their  solicitude  lost  in 
the  whirlpool  of  political  action  where,  being  disfranchised,  they 
have  no  recognized  place.  It  is  too  late  in  the  century  for  women 
who  have  received  the  benefits  of  co-education  in  schools  and 
colleges,  and  who  bear  their  full  share  in  the  world’s  work,  not  to 
care  who  make  the  laws,  who  expound  and  who  administer  them. 
This  is  why  American  women  are  coming  more  and  more  to  think 
and  act  on  political  questions.  It  should  also  be  remembered  that 
in  this  country  a  large  part  of  the  wage  earners  are  women.  The 
questions  of  economics  which  are  involved  in  the  present  industrial 
system  affect  them,  and  the  wives  and  dependent  children  of  men 
wage  earners. 

Some  of  us  are  deeply  interested  in  the  vital  problems  of  modem 
American  life. 

We  find  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  conditions  which  were  very 
recently  wholly  European.  Mixed  populations  in  crowded  cities  and 
colonies  of  foreigners  distributed  through  the  country  give  rise  to 


320 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


apprehensive  solicitude  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  intelligent 
women.  It  is  not  possible,  neither  would  it  be  right,  to  attempt  the 
wholesale  exclusion  of  these  foreigners. 

They  are  children  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  whom  we  call  “  Our 
Father.”  The  Anglo-Saxon  has  no  title  deed  to  American  soil. 
Nevertheless  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  the  United  States  cannot  avoid 
the  responsibility  of  its  God-given  opportunity  to  hold  its  appointed 
place  of  commander-in-chief  of  the  hosts  who  contend  for  liberty, 
equality  and  fraternity  within  the  constitutional  limits  of  the  popular 
sovereignty  over  which  the  stars  and  stripes  float.  The  Anarchist 
cries  “  personal  liberty,”  and  hides  blood-shed  under  his  red  banner. 
Loyal  Americans  make  their  boast  in  constitutional  liberty,  which 
alone  guarantees  stable  government  that  can  secure  freedom  to  all. 

George  Washington  said  ioo  years  ago:  “  The  preservation  of 
liberty  and  the  destiny  of  the  republican  model  of  government  are 
justly  considered  as  deeply,  perhaps  as  finally,  staked  on  the  experi¬ 
ment  entrusted  to  the  American  people.”  In  this  magnificent  ex¬ 
periment  women  are  equally  interested  with  men. 

Women  who  have  been  extensively  engaged  in  securing  legislative 
action  for  various  educational,  philanthropic  and  other  interests,  know 
from  whom  their  chief  support  has  come. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  they  judge  parties  by  these  fruits? 

Moreover,  intelligent  women  wish  to  know  why  certain  trees  bear 
certain  fruits.  They  wish  to  know  the  principles  of  government 
which  underlie  the  claims  of  the  political  organizations  which  ask 
popular  support. 

They  will  be  helped  by  studying  the  genealogy  of  parties  and  the 
evolution  of  their  policies. 

Women  want  honest  money  and  are  willing  patiendy  to  follow  the 
complicated  questions  of  National  finance. 

They  are  interested  in  the  condition  of  wage-earners  in  this  and  in 
other  countries.  In  a  general  way  they  believe  in  “protection”  or 
“free  trade”;  they  should  know  the  divergent  theories  of  govern¬ 
ment  on  which  these  several  systems  of  economics  are  based. 

Women  sorely  feel  the  blight  of  intemperance,  and  the  need  of 
legislation  against  the  liquor  traffic,  but  it  is  vital  to  the  protection  of 
their  homes  and  the  general  interests  of  good  government  that  they 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


32 1 


understand,  not  only  what  ought  to  be  done,  but  also  what  are  the 
limitations  of  party  actions  in  the  interests  of  any  moral  reform. 

These  and  other  questions  march  and  countermarch  on  the  stage 
of  political  history;  women’s  interests  from  the  begining  have  been 
inseparably  associated  with  man’s, — not  only  in  the  home  and  the 
church-— but  in  the  State. 

This  is  why  American  women  are  more  and  more  observant  and 
active  in  politics. 

The  question  often  arises,  is  it  wise  to  organize  woman's  political 
associations  in  order  that  certain  reforms  which  many  women  desire 
may  be  through  these  agencies  sooner  secured  ?  To  this  the  thought¬ 
ful  woman  answers:  all  real  reforms  will  be  aided  by  the  development 
of  woman’s  political  influence  through  organization;  but  questions  of 
moral  reform— as  such — should  be  kept  outside  of  party  political 
action  until  the  people  through  non-partisan  agencies  have  secured 
so  great  popular  support  for  these  reforms  that  they  may  be  safely 
championed  by  political  parties.  We  believe  it  is  harmful  to  a  great 
question  like  the  temperance  question  to  be  subjected  to  the  varying 
fortunes  of  party  politics.  In  a  popular  government — a  government 
by  the  people — legislation  in  the  interest  of  any  reform  can  only  be 
secured  where  a  majority  of  the  people — voters — desire  it;  and  a 
much  larger  majority  sentiment  is  required  to  enforce  legislation  than 
is  necessary  to  secure  it.  Party  action  should  follow ,  not  precede  the 
creation  of  a  dominant  popular  sentiment. 

It  is  politically  wrong  for  a  party  to  spend  its  energies  and  lessen 
its  chances  of  success  and  consequent  usefulness  by  resolving  to  at¬ 
tempt  that  which  it  cannot  reasonably  expect  its  adherents  to  support 
at  the  poles.  Party  leaders  and  platform  builders  may  make  mis¬ 
takes,  they  may  miscalculate  the  sentiment  within  their  own  ranks, 
but  they  should  not  knowingly  invite  defeat. 

How  then  will  these  great  reforms  be  accomplished  ?  We  answer, 
through  moral  reform  and  other  associations. 

The  schools,  the  press,  the  platform  and  the  pulpit  educate  and 
agitate;  legislation  little  by  little  is  secured  through  non-partisan 
measures.  Then  comes  the  machinery  of  the  party  and  holds  fast 
what  has  been  secured  through  these  other  agencies.  Party  issues 
are  made  when  the  destructive  agencies  which  always  prey  upon 


322 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


society  attempt  to  destroy  what  the  people  believe  to  be  true  and 
good;  or  when  two  diverse  lines  of  political  action  in  finance  or 
economics  contend  for  supremacy  in  legislation. 

A  clear  distinction  exists  between  the  work  of  education  and  agita¬ 
tion  which  goes  on  all  the  while  outside  of  party  lines  in  the  broad, 
grand  field  of  philanthropic,  humane  and  Christian  effort,  and  the 
proper  work  of  a  party  is  to  stand  for  that  whereunto  the  people 
have  attained.  The  former  is  a  growth,  the  latter  is  a  crystilization. 
A  little  clear  thinking  on  this  distinction  will  bring  order  out  of 
confusion  in  thought  and  consequent  action. 

The  country  is  wide  and  State  conditions  differ;  no  party  can 
hold  an  absolutely  uniform  position  on  all  questions,  but  the  general 
trend  of  party  policy  and  action  should  be  the  same  everywhere. 

,  A  party  should  not  follow  every  will-o’-the-wisp  reform,  but  it 
should  calmly  and  comprehensively  study  all  existing  social,  econo¬ 
mic  and  educational  questions,  and  move  forward  for  the  people’s 
good  just  as  fast  as  the  people  will  sustain  it  at  the  polls. 

Faster  than  this,  no  party  is  justified  in  moving.  A  party  lessens 
its  power  for  usefulness  whenever  it  attempts  the  impossible. 

The  history  of  the  country  shows  that  party  leaders  and  lesser 
politicians  have  courage  to  act  just  in  proportion  as  public  sentiment 
is  quickened  and  demonstrative;  no  other  agency  so  develops  public 
sentiment  as  the  heart  and  brain  and  voice  of  woman. 

The  country  needs  the  political  work  of  women  to-day  as  much  as 
it  has  ever  needed  woman  in  any  other  work  at  any  other  time. 
The  constitution  provides  the  machinery  of  government;  that  great 
document  has  been  tested  in  peace,  in  war  and  through  the  recon¬ 
struction  period.  It  awaits  the  final  test  of  administration  by  a 
government  representing  a  heterogeneous  mass  of  citizens  from  every 
clime,  many  of  whom  are  disqualified  by  hereditary  and  early 
environment  for  responsible  citizenship. 

Some  of  our  foreign-born  citizens  are  of  the  noblest  fibre;  they 
have  brought  new  lustre  to  the  stars  and  brightness  to  the  stripes  of 
the  dear  old  flag,  but  masses  of  others  are  the  garbage  of  Oriental 
and  European  civilizations,  the  windfalls  of  monarchical  govern¬ 
ments  and  deserters  from  imperialism  and  militarism.  They  all  vole , 
and  American  women,  the  daughters  and  granddaughters  of  heroes, 
the  mothers,  the  sisters  and  the  wives  of  heroes  do  not  vote. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


323 


Behold  an  anomaly  in  free  institutions!  Nevertheless  all  the  polit¬ 
ical  interests  that  American  women  hold  dear  are  at  the  mercy  of  a 
government  thus  constituted.  Will  women  ‘  ‘  sulk  in  their  tents 
because  in  the  evolution  of  popular  government  they  are  not  yet  en¬ 
franchised  ?  Patriotic  women,  conscious  of  love  of  country,  and  with 
the  repose  of  self-respect  which  becomes  their  heredity  and  environ¬ 
ment,  will  do  the  best  they  can  through  the  agencies  at  their 
command. 

Thoughtful  women  know  that  the  nation  is  a  grand  whole;  that  if 
one  member  suffers  the  whole  suffer;  that  if  one  is  blessed  the  whole 
are  blessed.  Women  have  no  separate  interests;  if  man  is  elevated 
and  the  general  tone  of  society  purified,  woman  receives  her  share  of 
advantage;  whatever  woman  can  do  to  help  in  American  politics,  by 
so  much  she  hastens  the  time  of  her  own  recognition  as  a  political 
equal. 

The  country  has  made  immense  strides  in  material  development 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  Huge  commercial  enterprises 
have  risen  like  giants  in  armor  and  have  strode  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  leaving  tracks  of  steel  and  handprints  of  light.  Acres  of 
solid  masonry  tower  towards  heaven,  and  their  roofs  bloom  like 
paradise. 

Hospitality  and  reciprocity  open  great  gates  at  our  ports  of  entry 
for  desirable  citizens  from  all  lands,  and  the  products  of  such  as  will 
exchange  with  us. 

The  triumphs  of  mind  over  matter  stamp  this  period  illustrious 
among  the  centuries.  Within  this  success  there  hides  danger.  The 
cultivation  of  one  set  of  faculties  tends  to  the  disuse  of  others.  The 
loss  of  one  faculty  sharpens  others;  the  blind  are  sensitive  in  touch. 
Has  not  the  extreme  cultivation  of  the  commercial  faculty  permitted 
others  as  essential  to  national  life,  to  be  blighted  by  disuse  ? 

Not  the  least  among  the  services  of  woman  in  politics  is  the  revival 
of  enthusiasm  for  the  flag.  The  raising  of  the  national  emblem  in 
the  morning  sunshine  amid  a  group  of  school  children  is  a  republican 
method  of  protection  against  anarchy.  The  flag  over  the  school- 
house  was  suggested  by  a  woman. 

Out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of  life  in  politics  as  well  as  in  relig¬ 
ion.  Women  have  much  heart.  In  politics  heart  is  needed. 


324 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Sentiment  is  the  mightiest  force  in  civilization;  not  sentimentality , 
but  sentiment.  Women  will  bring  this  into  politics.  Home,  sweet 
home,  is  as  powerful  on  the  hustings  as  at  the  fireside. 

Not  only  does  the  country  need  woman’s  help  in  practical  politics; 
woman  herself  will  be  the  gainer  by  the  larger  culture  which  this 
study  and  political  activity  will  give. 

The  legend  which  we  wrote  in  our  copybooks  when  we  were 
children  is  as  true  now  as  ever:  knowledge  is  power. 

The  ideal  woman  is  no  longer  the  pale,  white  lily  of  mediaeval  ro¬ 
mance;  she  is  a  living,  breathing,  thinking,  doing  human  being — a 
well-equipped  help-meet  in  all  life’s  activities.  There  is  no  grander 
science  than  that  of  politics,  except  the  science  of  theology.  How 
God  governs  the  universe  of  mind  and  holds  in  His  hand  the  universe 
of,  matter  is  the  grandest  theme  the  soul  can  contemplate;  next  in 
dignity  are  the  principles  and  methods  which  control  and  apply 
human  agencies  to  mobilize  masses  of  citizens  for  the  general  good. 
This  is  political  science.  We  pity  the  narrowness  which  cannot  com¬ 
prehend  the  dignity  of  this  study;  we  are  patient  with  weakness 
which  cannot  grasp  it;  we  make  no  answer  to  those  who  ridicule  it, 
but  we  give  heart  and  hand  in  patriotic  devotion  to  the  women 
who  reach  out  to  know  and  to  do  large  things  for  the  home  and 
the  flag. 

There  is  another  side  of  the  question  which  should  appeal  to  all 
women.  None  dispute  woman’s  pre-eminence  in  the  home,  and  a 
true  woman  desires  most  of  all  to  be  faithful  there:  to  prepare  the 
food,  to  make  the  garments  and  to  minister  in  the  nursery  to  little 
children,  is  the  dream  of  youth  and  the  blessed  fruition  of  mature 
years;  but  to  many  a  mother’s  heart  has  come  the  disappointment  of 
a  loss  of  power,  a  limitation  of  influence  when  early  manhood  takes 
the  boy  from  the  home,  or  when  even  before  that  time,  in  school,  or 
where  he  touches  the  great  world  and  begins  to  be  bewildered  with 
its  controversies,  trade  and  economics  and  politics  make  their  im¬ 
print  even  while  his  lips  are  dewy  with  his  mother’s  kiss. 

The  problems  which  vex  philosophers  and  worry  statesmen, 
knock  for  admission  at  the  door  of  his  young  ambition.  Then  often 
comes  the  mother’s  first  sense  of  separation  from  her  child.  Disap¬ 
pointing  is  her  answer,  if  she  is  obliged  to  say:  “my  son  I  do  not 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


325 


know,  you  must  ask  somebody  else.”  Sad  indeed  will  be  her  heart 
if  she  finds  that  he  soon  learns  to  respect  those  outside  the  home 
more  than  he  does  his  mother  in  the  home  because  his  inquiries  are 
answered  elsewhere.  Does  the  question  come,  ‘‘where  is  the  father, 
is  it  not  his  duty  to  answer  the  boy’s  questionings?  ”  To  be  sure  it 
is;  but  fathers  are  burdened  with  the  care  of  providing  for  the  family. 
They  must  procure  shelter,  and  food  and  clothing.  Two  often  these 
necessities  drive  out  of  sight  and  out  of  mind  the  boy’s  education 
even  in  political  matters.  Mothers  always  have  to  do  what  others 
leave  undone.  Happy  is  that  mother  whose  ability  to  help  her  child 
continues  on  from  babyhood  and  manhood  into  maturity.  Blessed 
is  the  son  who  need  not  leave  his  mother  at  the  threshold  of  the 
world’s  activities,  but  may  always  and  everywhere  have  her  blessing 
and  her  help.  Thrice  blessed  are  the  son  and  the  mother  between 
whom  there  exists  an  association  not  only  physical  and  afifectional, 
but  spiritual  and  intellectual,  and  broad  and  wide  as  is  the  scope  of 
each  being.  Let  no  woman  fear  such  association.  Let  her  covet  it 
as  a  gem  in  the  crown  of  her  maternity.  In  infancy  and  babyhood 
the  mother  holds  her  son  by  the  muscles  of  her  affection  and  his 
necessity;  in  young  manhood  and  maturity  the  ideal  relation  is  a 
union  so  fine  and  close  that  touch  of  brain  and  thrill  of  nerve  best 
illustrate  it.  Such  mothers — in  politics — and  such  sons  bring  to  the 
nation,  which  is  only  the  larger  home,  a  priceless  benediction. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


WOMAN’S  WORK  IN  THE  CHURCH 

EDITORIAL. 

CHURCHES. 

WOMAN’S  work  in  the  church  in  America,  dates  from  the 
very  first  meeting-house,  (as  churches  were  called  in  Puritan 
times;)  which  was  erected  upon  American  soil.  What  woman’s 
work  in  the  church  has  been  and  is,  every  church,  chapel  and 
meeting-house  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  land  can 
ably  testify. 

The  statistics  of  religious  denominations  in  the  United  States,  in 
1890,  gave  the  following  totals: 

Baptists — churches,  48,371;  membership,  4,292,291.  Protestant 
Episcopalians — churches,  5,118;  membership,  470,076.  Congre- 
gationalists — churches,  4,689;  membership,  491,985.  Methodists — 
churches,  54,71 1;  membership,  4,980,240.  Presbyterians — churches, 
13,619;  membership,  1,229,012.  Lutherans — churches,  8,427;  mem¬ 
bership,  1,199,514.  Friends — churches,  1,056;  membership,  106,608. 
Unitarians — churches,  407;  membership,  20,000.  Universalists — 
churches,  732;  membership,  42,952.  Disciples — churches,  7,246; 
membership,  641,051.  Of  this  membership  in  the  various  denomin¬ 
ations,  I  think  it  would  be  within  limits  to  estimate  the  number  of 
women  as  comprising  two-thirds  of  the  church  membership. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

Regarding  the  women  engaged  in  Sunday-school  work  in  the 
United  States,  I  have  not  been  able  to  secure  definite  statistics. 
The  general  statistics  of  the  Sunday-schools  in  the  United  States,  in 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


327 


1890,  were: — Number  of  Sunday-schools  reported,  108,939;  total 
number  of  teachers  and  scholars,  9,800,582.  This  number  does  not 
include  the  schools  of  Hebrews,  Roman  Catholics  and  non-Evangeli- 
cal  Christian  churches.  The  number  of  scholars  in  Roman  Catholic 
Sunday-schools,  in  the  United  States,  is  estimated  by  clerics,  at 
700,000. 

Probably  two-thirds  of  all  the  teachers  have  been  women  since  the 
first  Sunday-school  was  organized  a  little  more  than  100  years  ago. 

In  connection  with  Sunday-school  literature,  the  name  of  Mrs. 
G.  R.  Alden,  (Panzy),  must  not  be  omitted,  for  the  “  Panzy 
Libraries ’’are  scattered  throughout  the  country,  and  have  numbered 
their  delighted  young  readers  by  thousands.  Indeed,  in  this  depart¬ 
ment,  Panzy  is  peerless,  as  the  children’s  preacher  in  print. 

The  American  Sunday-school  Union,  since  its  organization,  has 
established  86,000  Sunday-schools.  There  are  375  Sunday-schools 
in  New  York  city.  The  total  membership  is  123,000. 

HOME  MISSIONS. 

In  the  following  reports  gathered  form  various  sources  regarding 
the  mission  work  of  American  women,  no  note  is  taken  of  the  vast 
work  being  done  in  foreign  fields,  but  the  statistics  are  confined  to 
home  missions. 

From  an  able  article  in  the  Cosmopolitan,  by  Edmund  Collins, 
entitled,  “  Protestant  Missions,”  I  have  culled  the  following:  “  The 
chief  Protestant  organizations  of  this  nature  in  New  York,  are  sixteen 
in  number.  The  field  ol  the  New  York  City  Mission  is  restricted  to 
New  York  below  Fourteenth  street.  Its  work  extends  through  a 
population  of  nearly  538,000  persons,  with  sub-organizations,  con¬ 
sisting  of  a  missionary  association,  a  ladies'  association,  a  sewing- 
school,  a  library,  Sunday-schools,  etc.  In  the  Olivet  Sewing-school 
about  140  pupils  are  instructed  in  needlework.  The  average  church 
attendance  in  this  mission  is  484.  The  Helping  Hand,  another  sub¬ 
organization,  consists  chiefly  of  ladies  from  Englewood,  N.  J.,  who 
hold  sewing-classes  in  the  Sunday-school  hall.  Last  year  these  classes 
made  658  garments 

The  King’s  Daughters  give  great  assistance  to  this  mission. 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


328 

Another  organization  is  the  Protestant  Episcopal  City  Mission 
Society,  of  which  Bishop  Potter  is  President.  This  mission’s  field  of 
labor  comprises  the  Department  of  Saint  Barnabas,  304  and  306 
Mulberry  street.  This  department  has  a  house,  a  chapel,  a  dis¬ 
pensary,  Sunday-school,  a  day  nursery  for  children  and  a  creche  for 
infants,  an  industrial  school  for  girls  and  an  employment  office  for 
women.  At  38  Bleeker  street,  there  is  a  free  reading-room  for  boys 
and  young  men.  The  public  institutions  with  which  this  mission 
concerns  itself,  are  those  on  Blackwell’s  Island,  comprising  the  Charity 
hospital,  the  Almshouse  and  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  the  Peni¬ 
tentiary  and  Hospital,  the  Workhouse  and  Hospital  and  the  New  York 
City  Lunatic  Asylum  (female);  on  Ward’s  Island,  the  Homeopathic 
Hospital,  the  Emmigrant  Refuge  and  Hospital  and  the  Asylum  for 
Insane  Males;  on  Randall’s  Island,  the  Idiot  Asylum  and  the  Adult, 
Children’s  and  Infant’s  Hospitals;  on  Hart’s  Island,  the  branch  of 
the  Workhouse,  of  the  City  Lunatic  Asylum  for  Females  and  the 
Hospital  for  Chronic  and  Convalescent  cases.  It  also  takes  special 
cognizance  of  the  city  hospitals  and  asylums  and  all  the  prisons.  In 
the  Saint  Barnabas  House  it  cares  for  nearly  2,000  persons  in  the 
year.  It  obtained  work  for  908  out  of  this  number;  gave  lodgings 
to  18,607;  supplied  74,560  meals  and  cared  for  7,212  children  in  the 
nursery.  Some  idea  of  the  prison  work  may  be  gathered  from  the 
fact  that  51,000  persons  were  committed  in  the  city  in  1890,  and 
every  one  of  these  was  visited  by  some  representative  of  the  associa¬ 
tion.  The  American  Missionary  Association,  has  its  headquarters  at 
the  Bible  House.  The  field  with  which  it  concerns  itself  lies  mainly 
in  the  South,  and  among  the  Indians  and  Chinese.  The  record  of 
its  educational  supervision  in  the  South,  shows  twenty  Normal  and 
graded  schools,  fifty-three  common  schools,  340  instructors  and 
13,395  pupils.  The  church  organization  in  the  same  region  com¬ 
prises  128  churches,  107  missionaries,  7,978  church  members  and 
14,492  Sunday-school  attendants.  Among  the  Indians  are  nine 
churches,  sixteen  schools  and  eighty-seven  missionaries  and  teachers. 
Seven  hundred  and  fifty  Chinamen  on  the  Pacific  Coast  are  church 
members  of  the  American  Missionary  Association. 

“  The  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  its 
headquarters  at  53  Fifth  avenue.  The  missions  are  divided  into  two 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


329 


sections,  the  home  and  the  foreign.  In  the  home  section  there  are 
no  fewer  than  6,727  churches.  The  department  known  as  the 
Women’s  Executive  Committee  of  Home  Missions,  has  chiefly  con¬ 
cerned  itself  with  the  Indians,  Mormons,  Mexicans  and  Southern 
mountain  whites.  There  are  amongst  these  peoples,  belonging  to 
this  mission,  118  schools,  368  officers  and  teachers  and  7,478  pupils. 

“  The  division  having  a  care  for  Freedmen  has  245  churches,  sev¬ 
enty-eight  schools,  1 17  colored  preachers,  and  133  colored  teachers.” 

In  addition  to  these  facts  from  the  Cosmopolitan,  I  am  indebted  to 
Mrs.  E.  R.  Perkins,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  for  the  following:  ‘‘The 
Woman’s  Synodical  Society  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  composed  of  Synods  in  twenty-four  states,  comprising  a 
total  membership  of  107,136,  women.  In  the  report  of  1892,  for 
the  Freedmen’s  Department  as  made  by  Mrs.  C.  E.  Coulter,  Secre¬ 
tary  is  the  following: 

‘  ‘  During  the  past  year,  1,175  societies  have  contributed  through 
the  Woman’s  Executive  Committee,  $44,985.95  of  which  $3,532.27 
was  from  Sunday  Schools.  In  addition  to  this  the  treasurer  of  the 
Freedmen’s  Board,  has  received  direct  from  thirty-two  societies, 
$391.90;  making  a  total  of  $45,377.85.  This  money  has  paid  the 
salaries  of  thirty-two  teachers  has  given  a  whole  or  partial  scholar¬ 
ship  to  300  pupils,  and  has  aided  in  building,  repairing,  and  furnish¬ 
ing  school  supplies  to  nineteen  schools.  The  remainder  has  gone 
into  the  general  fund  of  the  Board.” 

“  The  amount  of  money  raised  by  the  Woman’s  Executive  Com¬ 
mittee,  since  1878,  is  $2,356,281.74,  and  the  number  of  missionaries 
employed  during  that  time;  2650.” 

Of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Missionary  Society,  of  New  York; 
the  Cosmopolitan  article  states; 

“  The  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  7  Beekman  street, 
conducted  operations  in  1890,  in  forty-seven  states  and  territories, 
also  in  Ontario,  Manitoba,  British  Columbia,  Alaska,  and  six  states 
of  the  Mexican  Republic.  Among  the  foreign  population  there  were 
190  workers,  and  among  the  colored  people,  the  Indians,  and  Mexi¬ 
cans,  243.  Castle  Garden  was  the  special  care  of  this  society,  and 
about  800  visits  were  made  to  immigrant  boarding  houses,  hospitals, 
etc,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  Women’s  Union  Missionary 


330 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Society,  41  Bible  House,  sends  out  single  women  to  engage  in  mis¬ 
sionary  work  in  foreign  countries.  It  has  mission  centres  in  Bur- 
mah,  India,  China,  Japan,  Greece,  and  Cyprus.” 

Regarding  the  Women’s  Baptist  Home  Mission  Societies,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  statistics  were  secured  through  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  S.  W. 
Adams,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  Women’s  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  centred 
in  Boston,  Mass,  have  supported  since  it  organization,  180  teachers, 
and  180  pupils.  Their  work  is  among  Freedmen,  Indians,  Chinese, 
Mexicans,  Mormons,  and  Alaskans.  They  have  workers  in  sixteen 
states  and  territories.  Their  funds  are  collected  in  New  England  and 
are  paid  out  through  the  A.  B.  H.  M.  Society  in  New  York. 

A  summary  of  the  Woman’s  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  of 
Michigan,  is  as  follows: 

“‘Our  motto  like  that  of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society,  is  ‘  North  America  for  Christ.’  Of  the  394  churches  in  the 
State,  230  circles,  and  sixty-four  bands  and  young  people’s  societies 
are  home  mission  contributors.  The  annual  report  closing  last  Octo¬ 
ber,  showed  $5,341. 18  disbursed  in  money  and  supplies,  while  the  re¬ 
ceipts  and  disbursments  during  the  years  1874 — 1888  aggregate  over 
$55,000.” 

Of  the  Women’s  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  located  in  Chi¬ 
cago,  I  have  gathered  the  following  from  their  circular. 

The  Women’s  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  was  organized  in 
1877,  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  Its  work  is  prosecuted  among  Ameri¬ 
cans,  Negroes,  Indians,  Chinese,  Swedes,  Norwegians,  Danes,  Ger¬ 
mans,  Bohemians,  Jews,  Mormons,  and  Mexicans.  The  character  of 
the  meetings  held  by  the  missionaries,  consists  of  women’s  meetings, 
children’s  meetings,  temperance  meetings,  and  missionary  meetings. 
The  school  work  is  divided  into  industrial  schools,  Sunday-schools, 
and  training  schools. 

‘‘The  Women’s  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  provides  for  their 
schools  missionary  teachers,  who  give  to  the  girls  special  Bible,  hy¬ 
gienic  and  domestic  instruction,  training  them  in  personal  Christian 
labor  on  the  field  in  the  vicinity  of  the  schools,  hoping  thus  to  send 
out  classes  of  girls  who  shall  raise  the  standard  of  womanhood,  wife¬ 
hood,  and  motherhood  in  the  communities  where  their  lives  may  be 
spent. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


331 


“This  society  also  provides  teachers  for  the  Missionary  Training 
Department  of  Shaw  University,  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  and  is  responsible  for 
the  superintendence  and  partial  support  of  the  students  when  engaged 
in  missionary  work  in  the  field  during  the  time  they  are  taking  their 
course  of  training. 

“The  Baptist  Missionary  Training  School,  organized  in  Chicago, 
in  1881,  is  designed  to  fit  Christian  women  for  missionary  service  in 
any  line  on  the  home  or  foreign  field,  or  in  church  or  city  missions. 
Total  cash  receipts  from  1877  to  1892 — $343,963.18.  Summary  of 
work  done  by  the  missionaries — Religious  visits,  501,329;  Bible  read¬ 
ings  and  teachers’  meetings,  23,702;  industrial  schools  and  children’s 
meetings,  40,547;  women’s  meetings,  76,713;  young  people’s  meet¬ 
ings,  9,982;  temperance  meetings,  6,098;  other  meetings,  62,582; 
Sunday-school  sessions,  24,737;  Sunday-schools  organized,  426; 
signatures  to  the  temperance  pledge,  24,927.’’ 

The  following  facts  regarding  the  “Woman’s  Auxiliary  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  America,’’  were  kindly  furnished  by 
Mrs.  Cyrus  S.  Bates,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio: 

“  The  organization  is  very  perfect.  It  has  branches  in  every  state 
and  territory  in  the  Union;  and  our  aim  is  that  its  ramifactions  shall 
reach  every  parish  in  the  land,  and  every  woman  in  the  parish.  The 
Auxiliary  is  divided  into  fifty-one  dioceses,  (a  diocese  being  the  jur¬ 
isdiction  of  a  bishop,)  and  eleven  missionary  jurisdictions.  Manag¬ 
ing  each,  is  the  proper  board  of  diocesan  officers,  (these  officers  num¬ 
ber  440).  Each  diocese  is  sub-divided  into  parish  societies,  these 
again  having  their  proper  officers.  Each  parish  society  receives  its 
work  (that  which  it  desires  to  do)  through  the  diocesan  secretary, 
and  makes  its  pledges  and  its  reports  to  her.  The  diocesan  board 
takes  its  apportionment  of  the  work  to  be  done  through  the  secre¬ 
tary  at  headquarters,  and  makes  its  pledges  and  its  reports  to  her. 
It  is  the  business  of  our  management  at  headquarters  to  find  out 
every  year  from  each  bishop  what  are  the  needs  of  his  jurisdiction: 
of  each  missionary  whose  family  is  inadequately  supported,  of  each 
struggling  mission  church,  of  each  church  hospital,  and  school  for 
Indians,  freedmen,  or  whites.  Thus,  every  need  for  which  the  Aux¬ 
iliary  is  asked  to  work,  is  certified  to  by  a  bishop;  the  bishop  whose 
business  it  is  to  know  all  about  it.  The  whole  organization  is  a 


332 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


system  by  which  every  need  in  the  church  may  be  discovered  and 
relieved,  (to  the  extent  of  our  ability)  and,  on  the  other  side,  it  is  a 
system  by  which  every  woman  in  the  church  who  wants  to  do  some 
missionary  work  may  be  shown  something  which  she  can  do.  The 
number  of  members  of  the  Woman’s  Auxiliary  in  the  United  States 
has  never  been  tabulated.  The  organization  is  twenty-one  years  old. 
During  that  time  it  has  contributed  to  foreign  and  domestic  missions 
$3-623,505.60.  The  amount  last  year  was:  Domestic  missions, 
$309,454,89;  foreign  missions,  $42,593.04;  total,  $352,047,93. 

“  These  sums  represent  purely  church  missionary  work,  and  do  not 
include  sums  given  to  undenominational  charities,  however  Christian. 
Almost  every  parish  in  the  land,  no  matter  how  small  and  poor,  has 
its  “  Ladies’  Aid  Society,  (under  whatever  name)  for  parochial  work. 
The  amount  of  money  raised  yearly  by  ladies’  societies  in  the  Epis¬ 
copal  Church  for  local  charities  and  for  parochial  purposes  has  never 
been  tabulated.  Recent  reports  from  the  seven  Episcopal  churches 
in  this  city,  give  this  result:  $8,151.85;  should  this  proportion  hold 
good  throughout  the  country,  it  would  show  that  the  various  ladies’ 
societies  connected  with  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States 
raise  over  $700,000  for  parish  purposes  and  local  charities,  plus  the 
$352,047.93  for  missionary  purposes.” 

The  following  facts  regarding  the  mission  work  of  the  women  in 
the  Congregational  churches  have  been  kindly  furnished  by  Mrs.  J. 
G.  W.  Cowles,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

“  The  home  missionary  work  of  the  women  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  is  organized  by  states,  and  such  organizations  are  called 
State  Unions.  These  State  societies  co-operate  with  the  five  benevo¬ 
lent  societies  of  our  denomination  doing  work  in  this  country.  These 
five  societies  are  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  which 
sustains  home  missionaries  upon  the  frontier.  The  American  Mis¬ 
sionary  Association,  which  maintains  colleges,  universities  and  high 
grade  schools,  as  well  as  churches,  and  missionaries  among  the 
colored  people  of  the  South,  also  among  the  mountain  whites  of  the 
same  region.  This  society  also  does  missionary  work  among  the 
Chinese  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  among  the  Indians  of  the  far  West. 
The  New  West  Education  Commission  maintains  Christian  schools 
and  colleges,  as  well  as  churches,  teachers  and  preachers,  among  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


333 


Mormons  of  Utah,  and  Idaho,  and  other  parts  of  the  West.  The 
Church  Building  Society,  assists  poor  churches  in  the  erection  of 
church  homes  and  also  in  the  building  of  parsonages.  The  Sunday- 
school  and  Publishing  Society,  is  also  assisted  by  the  Women’s  State 
Unions  in  its  work  of  maintaining  Sabbath-schools,  missionaries  in 
western  states,  whose  work  is  to  organize  schools  in  remote  districts, 
and  in  the  cities  as  well,  furnishing  them  with  necessary  helps,  such 
as  quarterlies,  papers  and  libraries.  The  Women’s  State  Unions 
began  to  co-operate  with  the  Home  Missionary  Society  in  1868. 
During  the  twenty-four  years  they  have  contributed  to  that  society 
the  sum  of  $300,208.42.  Massachusetts  being  the  largest  contribu¬ 
tor  of  the  Atlantic  States,  Minnesota  of  the  Interior  States,  and  Cali¬ 
fornia  of  the  Pacific  States.  The  last  three  years  the  unions  have 
aided  in  maintaining  1 50  missionaries  at  the  frontier. 

“  To  the  American  Missionary  Association,  twenty-eight  Women’s 
State  Unions  contribute,  and  have,  during  the  last  year,  given  to  it 
the  sum  of  $18,077.84.  Again  Massachusetts  is  the  largest  giver, 
Ohio  being  second,  and  Maine  third.  The  above  sum  enables  the 
society  to  maintain  forty-five  missionaries.  But  it  should  be  said 
that  this  report  does  not  cover  the  contributions  of  the  women  of  our 
churches  accurately,  as  many  organizations  persist  in  sending  their 
funds  directly  to  the  National  Society,  and  altogether  ignoring  the 
State  unions.  Twenty-four  State  unions  contribute  to  the  New  West 
Education  Commission,  beginning  with  Kansas  in  1883.  In  1885 
six  other  states  followed  her  example.  During  the  last  twelve  years 
the  State  unions  have  given  that  society  $103,843.09,  which  swelled 
by  the  personal  gifts  of  other  ladies,  amounting  to  $76,632.34,  makes 
a  sum  total  to  that  society  given  by  the  women  of  our  churches, 
$180,475.41.  This  amount  has  paid  the  salaries  of  twenty-five 
teachers  annually  for  the  last  twelve  years. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  women  of  the  Congrega¬ 
tional  churches  have  contributed  to  home  and  foreign  missions,  in 
the  last  twenty-four  years,  $3,550,804.37.” 

The  Christian  Women’s  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Disciple  Church, 
since  the  organization  in  1874,  have  employed  fifty-five  missionaries, 
and  contributed  $3,500. 

Regarding  the  ‘  ‘  Church  Extension  and  Missionary  Society  of  the 


334 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  805  Broadway,  New  York,”  the  Cos¬ 
mopolitan  article  says:  ‘‘This  society  has  a  membership  of  617  in 
its  churches,  and  4,583  in  its  Sunday-schools.  It  confines  itself  to 
work  among  the  poor  and  ignorant  in  New  York  City,  and  has  such 
finely  equipped  institutions  as  the  Deaconess  Home  and  Training 
School,  the  Battery  Park  Mission,  a  Chinese  mission,  a  French  mis¬ 
sion,  an  Italian  mission,  and  a  Girl’s  Sewing  School.” 

Regarding  other  New  York  missionary  centres  the  same  article 
states : 

“The  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  No.  34  Bible  House, 
aims  to  assist  congregations  that  are  unable  to  support  the  Gospel 
ministry.  It  has  thirty-two  auxiliaries,  and  the  women’s  department 
has  no  fewer  than  1,801  local  auxiliaries.  It  has  in  its  federation 
10,650  churches  and  141,000  Sunday-school  scholars,  and  fully  a 
quarter  of  a  million  church  members. 

“  There  are  among  the  missions  devoted  to  sailors;  the  American 
Seamen’s  Friend  Society,  and  the  Society  for  Promoting  the 
Gospel  among  Seamen.  The  former  has  branches  in  all  the  great 
seaports  of  the  world,  with  a  small  army  of  missionary  workers. 
It  has  regular  churches,  some  of  them  afloat  close  to  where  ships 
congregate.  Besides  providing  reading-rooms,  homes  and  religious 
service  for  sailors  in  the  city,  the  society  is  established  in  all  the 
great  American  ports.  Its  sister  society  already  mentioned  has  its 
headquarters  at  Madison  and  Catherine  streets.  The  wives  and 
children  of  sailors  are  also  the  objects  of  great  care  to  these  societies; 
they  are  relieved  when  in  distress,  and  speedily  are  given  suitable 
employment.  Everything  possible  is  done  to  win  the  men  away 
from  the  saloons,  and  many  hundreds  have  become  total  abstainers 
and  church  members. 

“  The  other  missions  in  this  fine  list  are:  the  Baptist  City  Mission; 
the  New  York  Colored  Mission,  135  West  30th  street;  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Church  Missionary  Society,  which  extends  its  labors  over 
foreign  lands  as  well  as  through  this  country;  the  German  Mission 
House  Association,  26  State  street,  with  its  parental  care  for 
immigrants  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocesan  Mission  Society, 
12  Astor  Place,  with  its  long  established  organization.’ 

The  following  statistics  regarding  the.  “Woman’s  Home 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


335 


Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church”  in  the 
United  States,  have  been  kindly  furnished  by  Mrs.  R.  S.  Rust, 
corresponding  secretary  of  the  society. 

‘‘The  society  was  organized  in  1880,  with,  twenty  one  charter 
members.  It  now  has  2397  auxiliaries,  with  a  membership  of 
64,490.  The  cash  receipts  of  the  society  have  aggregated  $596- 
831.95.  It  has  distributed  supplies  to  ministers  and  missions  to  the 
amount  of  $405,309.84, — total  $1,002,141,79. 

Our  missions  are  in  cities  and  on  the  frontier  South  and  West. 
In  cities  we  have  130  missionaries  and  deaconesses  working  among 
the  poor  and  neglected  native  and  foreign  population.  In  the  South 
our  industrial  homes  and  schools  for  the  poor  whites  and  for  the 
colored  people  are  thirty  five.  In  the  West,  our  missions  are 
among  the  Spanish,  Mexicans,  Indians  and  Mormons,  and  in 
Alaska.  Among  these  three  classes  we  have  thirty-eight  mission¬ 
aries  employed,  203  in  all.  But  these  numbers  do  not  include  an 
equal  number  of  efficient  local  helpers  in  several  other  fields. 
Our  work  is  exclusively  in  this  country.  The  number  of  mission¬ 
aries  supported  since  the  organization  in  1880  would  average 
annually  about  70.” 

‘  ‘  It  is  stated  that  the  number  of  women  Christian  Scientists  in 
America,  aggregate  between  40,000  and  50,000.” 

Regarding  the  work  of  the  Salvation  Army,  the  following  statistics 
are  reported. 

‘  ‘  The  Army  occupies  thirty-nine  Countries  and  Colonies,  oper¬ 
ating  in  twenty-five  languages.  During  1892,  634  persons  professed 
conversion  in  the  Army’s  meetings  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  41,499  War 
Crys  were  sold,  1201  open  air  meetings  were  held.  There  are 
4,323  Corps  and  Outposts  and  11,135  officers,  forty-three  Rescue 
Homes,  seventy-two  Slum  Posts,  fifteen  Prison-gate  Homes  through 
the  world.  Annual  circulation  of  the  War  Cry  and  other  publi¬ 
cations  47,600,000.  There  are  538  Corps  and  Outposts  in  the 
United  States,  and  1529  officers  wholly  employed  in  the  work.” 

In  connection  with  woman’s  work  in  missions,  a  brief  sketch  of 
Mrs.  Thomas  C.  Doremus  cannot  be  omitted.  As  the  ‘  ‘  Mother  of 
Missions,”  Mrs.  Doremus  stands  as  a  representative  of  woman’s  ef¬ 
forts  in  missionary  labor  and  kindred  philanthropies.  Such  lives  fill 


336 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


our  hearts  with  profound  recognition  of  the  power  of  a  Christ-like 
spirit  working  through  men  and  women  consecrated  to  His  Holy 
service.  Such  lives  are  better  than  tomes  of  sermons,  more  product¬ 
ive  of  good  than  generations  of  merely  lip-serving  men  and  women. 
To  love  Christ  by  abiding  in  Him,  is  the  only  method  which  can 
claim  the  sure  promise  of  gathering  in  the  harvest.  Such  lives  as 
that  of  this  self-sacrificing  “  Mother  of  Missionaries,  ”  are  a  holy  in¬ 
spiration.  I  am  indebted  to  Sarah  Du  Bois  for  the  following  sketch 
of  Mrs.  Doremus: 

“  Among  the  names  prominent  in  New  York  City,  is  that  of  Sarah 
Platt  Haines,  wife  of  Thomas  C.  Doremus,  who  for  a  period  of  fifty 
years  made  a  part  of  the  history  of  benevolent  work  carried  on,  in  the 
city  where  she  was  born,  August  3,  1802.  Her  father,  Elias  Haines, 
and  her  mother,  Mary  Ogden,  with  her  grand-parents,  Robert  Ogden 
and  Sarah  Platt,  devoted  their  lives  and  wealth  to  benevolence,  so 
that  consecration  to  Christian  work  was  an  inheritance. 

“  In  the  town  and  country  homes  owned  by  her  parents,  she  grew 
up  to  a  beautiful  womanhood,  and  became  a  centre  for  the  love  and 
admiration  of  her  large  circle  of  relatives  and  friends.  Her  beauty 
was  retained  to  old  age;  her  clear,  cameo-cut  features,  her  fair,  deli¬ 
cate  skin,  with  its  soft  color,  and  her  deep  blue  eyes,  gave  her  a  pass¬ 
port  to  all  hearts.  With  every  inducement  to  enter  the  fascinating 
world,  she  chose  a  life  far  nobler  in  the  promotion  of  the  best  inter¬ 
ests  of  her  fellow-men.  September  ii,  1821,  she  married,  and  be¬ 
came  the  mother  of  nine  children,  Dr.  R.  Ogden  Doremus,  the 
celebrated  professor  in  chemistry  and  toxicology,  being  her  only  son. 

“  Her  early  married  life  was  filled  with  countless  benefactions,  and 
in  the  words  of  Dryden,  “Want  passed  for  merit  at  her  open  door.” 
“  The  rich  might  freely  come,  as  to  a  friend;  but  to  the  poor,  ’twas 
home.’ 

“  In  1828  she  began  her  first  organized  benevolent  work,  in  labors 
for  the  Greeks,  then  so  outraged  by  the  Turks.  With  eight  friends, 
she  gathered  large  supplies,  entrusting  them  to  Rev.  Jonas  King, 
D.D.,  as  their  representative,  who  subsequently  became  a  devoted 
missionary  in  Greece.  He  was  wont  to  call  this  band  of  ladies  ‘  The 
Nine  Muses.’ 

“  In  1835  she  took  a  vital  interest  in  the  Grande  Ligne  Mission  in 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


337 


Canada,  so  ably  conducted  by  Madame  Henrietta  Feller,  of  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  and  at  last  became  the  president  of  a  society  to  promote 
this  cause.  Although  Madame  Feller  and  her  associates  were  Bap¬ 
tists,  the  broad  Catholic  spirit  of  Mrs.  Doremus,  who  was  brought 
up  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  knew  no  sect,  in  the  pursuance  of  her 
earnest  work. 

“In  1840,  she  commenced  serving  in  the  ‘Women’s  Ward,’  of 
the  New  York  City  Prison,  called  the  “Tombs,’  at  a  time  when 
nothing  of  the  kind  was  attempted  for  the  reclaiming  of  prisoners. 
This  work  led  to  the  formation  of  a  society  for  discharged  prisoners, 
called  the  ‘  Women’s  Prison  Association.’  In  this  she  labored  for 
thirty-two  years,  a  portion  of  that  time  as  president,  and  rescuing 
many  an  immortal  soul  from  destruction,  and  following  many  a 
wretched  creature  with  sympathy  expressed  in  the  tenderest,  most 
self  denying  manner.  In  1841,  she  became  a  manager  of  the  ‘  City 
and  Tract  Society,’  having  for  its  object  the  evangelization  of  the 
poor,  to  whose  necessities  she  personality  ministered.  In  1849,  she 
added  to  these  labors  by  her  connection  with  the  1  City  Bible  Society,’ 
whose  aim  was  to  supply  the  destitute  poor  with  Bibles,  and  through 
the  employment  of  Bible  readers,  search  out  destitute  cases  and 
ameliorate  them. 

“In  1850,  with  many  friends,  she  founded  “The  House  and 
School  of  Industry,’  an  institution  having  a  two-fold  object;  first,  to 
give  work  to  poor  women,  which  should  afterwards  be  sold  at  a 
nominal  price;  2nd,  to  support  a  school  where  children  too  poorly 
clad  to  attend  public  schools,  could  receive  instruction.  Of  this 
society  Mrs.  Doremus  became  its  president,  in  1867,  and  was  actively 
engaged  in  its  interests  until  her  death.  In  1854,  the  claims  of  the 
poor  were  presssed  upon  her  in  another  direction,  resulting  in  the 
formation  of  the  ‘  Nursery  and  Child’s  Hospital,’  the  first  organiza¬ 
tion  of  its  kind  in  the  city.  Women,  who  earned  their  daily  bread, 
could  place  their  infants  under  watchful  care  during  their  enforced 
absence,  or  could  seek  the  comforts  of  the  hospital  during  the  perils 
of  maternity.  In  1855,  Dr.  J.  Marion  Sims  placed  before  her  his 
plans  for  the  establishment  of  a  hospital  to  treat  the  diseases  of 
women;  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  Mrs.  Doremus 
readily  responded  to  this  call,  and  through  repeated  visits  to  the 


338 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


State  Legislature  in  Albany,  secured  the  charter  and  appropriation 
for  the  institution,  known  as  “  The  Woman’s  Hospital.”  Religious 
services  were  established  there  and  sustained  entirely  through  her 
direct  instrumentality.  Content  to  fill  a  subordinate  place  during  the 
early  history  of  the  institution,  she  devoted  daily  much  time  to  its 
interests.  In  1864,  she  became  its  president,  retaining  the  position 
until  her  death. 

“  In  i860,  she  founded  the  ‘  Woman’s  Union  Missionary  Society,’ 
the  first  organization  of  women  in  America,  seeking  to  Christianize 
and  elevate  heathen  women.  For  fifteen  years  her  home  was  the 
headquarters  of  this  society,  demanding  a  consecration  and  service 
which  cannot  be  estimated.  In  1866,  she  aided  in  organizing  the 
‘  Presbyterian  Home  for  Aged  Women,’  and  in  1876,  in  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  the  ‘  Gould  Memorial,’  in  the  interests  of  the  Italian-American 
schools. 

“  Her  labors  in  1869,  for  the  famine  sufferers  in  Ireland,  and  her 
efforts  for  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  during  our  Civil  War,  were 
unequalled.  Her  private  benefactions  were  countless,  her  home 
being  a  Bethel  for  returning  or  outgoing  missionaries  to  foreign 
lands,  of  all  denominations,  also  to  the  sick  and  afflicted  of  every 
degree,  and  especially  to  the  young,  whose  lives  she  filled  with  sun¬ 
shine.  All  her  labors  for  suffering  humanity  were  so  unostentatiously 
performed,  that  much  was  not  known  until  her  death,  January  29, 
1877. 

“A  sketch  of  Mrs.  Doremus  would  be  incomplete  if  no  mention 
was  made  of  her  home  life.  No  outside  duty  was  undertaken  until 
the  claims  of  her  household  were  minutely  discharged.  From  her 
youth,  she  was  a  notable  housewife,  and  the  delicacies  prepared  for 
her  table  and  for  the  sick,  were  among  the  crowning  blessings  of  her 
education.  She  was  skilled  in  all  the  feminine  accomplishments  of 
the  day,  and  her  paintings  and  embroideries,  for  which  she  drew  her 
own  patterns,  are  preserved  as  evidences  of  her  versatile  talents. 
To  the  last  day  of  her  life,  she  was  to  be  seen  making  dainty  fabrics, 
with  the  dexterity  and  rapidity  of  the  young.  The  secret  of  her 
success  in  every  department  of  work,  was  her  entire  consecration  to 
the  Lord’s  service.  Her  power  to  organize  undertakings,  broad  and 
far-reaching,  was  only  equalled  by  her  execution  of  the  minutest 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


339 


details.  Most  of  these  labors  were  performed  while  a  great  sufferer 
from  a  pulmonary  complaint,  so  that  she  always  said:  ‘  I  do  to-day, 
for  fear  to-morrow  may  never  come!  ’  She  fully  exemplified  the 
motto  of  her  paternal  family;  ‘  With  sails  and  oars,’  and  as  her 
pastor  said  at  her  burial  services;  ‘  Having  served  her  generation, 
she  fell  asleep.’  ” 

YOUNG  PEOPLE’S  SOCIETY  OF  CHRIST¬ 
IAN  ENDEAVOR. 

Regarding  woman’s  share  in  the  great  Christian  Endeavor  Move¬ 
ment,  no  definite  statistics  can  be  secured.  The  secretary  of  the 
the  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  writes  me:  “There  are  a 
great  many  women  who  have  been  prominent  workers  in  their  local 
communities.  The  one  woman  who  has  much  more  to  do  with  the 
Christian  Endeavor  work  than  any  other,  touching  it  in  a  general 
way,  is  the  wife  of  our  president,  Mrs.  Francis  E.  Clark,  who  is  now 
travelling  with  her  husband  around  the  world.  The  facts  are  that 
from  her  first  missionary  Society,  in  Williston  Church,  Portland, 
Maine,  came  the  members  of  the  first  society  of  Christian  Endeavor. 
I  should  think  at  least  six  per  cent,  of  our  entire  membership  are 
women.” 

Mrs.  Alice  May  Scudder,  who  is  to  be  the  Christian  Endeavor 
representative  in  the  Woman’s  Congress  at  the  Exposition,  writes: 
‘  ‘  What  proportion  of  the  committee  work  is  planned  and  executed 
by  women  cannot  be  given  in  figures,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  they 
have  the  larger  share,  as  the  gentlemen  are  so  much  occupied  with 
business  cares.  Who  can  estimate  their  influence  on  the  growing 
youth  of  our  land  ?  The  influence  they  exert  through  their  helpful 
words  in  our  meetings,  and  the  fact  that  Christian  Endeavor  was  the 
key  that  opened  the  door  of  participation  in  meetings,  to  many 
women  in  our  more  strict  denominations  is  only  too  well-known.  ’  ’ 

Mrs.  James  L.  Hill,  Mrs.  Charles  A.  Dickinson,  Mrs.  Eli  C. 
Smith,  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Wishard,  of  Indian¬ 
apolis,  Miss  Lilian  A.  Wilcox,  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Golden  Rule, 
published  by  the  society,  Miss  Caroline  H.  Brookfield,  of  Belvidere, 
N.  J.,  Mrs.  H.  T.  McEwen,  Miss  Kate  H.  Haus,  of  St.  Louis,  and 


340 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Miss  Nettie  E.  Harrington,  lately  of  Minneapolis,  are  active  workers 
in  this  organization. 

Reference  to  this  remarkable  Christian  work  among  the  young,  is 
mentioned  also  in  the  chapter  on  American  Girls  in  this  volume. 

The  following  statements  of  the  principles  and  practice  of  the 
Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  have  been  culled  from  their  leaflets: 

“Since  this  organization  was  established,  in  1 88 1 ,  letters  have 
been  received,  literally  by  the  hundred  thousand,  from  all  parts  of 
the  country,  asking  for  information  about  it.  The  Young 
People’s  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  is  simply  an  organized 
effort  to  lead  the  young  people  to  Christ,  and  into  His  church, 
to  establish  them  firmly  in  the  faith,  and  to  set  them  at  work 
in  the  Lord’s  Vineyard-  The  main  point  upon  which  the  constitu¬ 
tion  insists,  is  the  weekly  prayer-meeting,  which  each  active  member 
pledges  himself  or  herself  to  attend  (unless  detained  by  some  absolute 
necessity)  and  to  participate  in,  in  some  way,  if  only  by  the  repetition 
of  a  verse  of  Scripture. 

“  Once  each  month  a  special  meeting  of  reconsecration  to  Christ 
is  held,  at  which  special  pains  are  taken  to  see  if  every  active  mem¬ 
ber  is  faithful  to  his  pledge  and  true  to  Christ.  The  Society  may, 
and  often  does,  branch  off  into  many  other  departments  of  Christian 
effort,  adapting  itself  to  the  local  needs  of  each  church,  but  these  rules 
concerning  the  praycr-mcetmg ,  are  imperative;  without  them  there 
cannot  be  a  true  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor.  In  cannot  be  in¬ 
sisted  on  too  strongly  that  the  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  is  first 
and  last,  and  always  a  religious  society.  It  has  social,  and  literary, 
and  other  features,  but  it  is  neither  a  social  nor  literary  society.  In 
the  platform  of  principles  set  forth  by  the  President  of  the  United 
Society  when  he  accepted  the  position,  and  since  very  generally  en¬ 
dorsed  by  the  societies  and  adopted  by  their  conventions,  is  the  fol¬ 
lowing: 

“‘The  purely  religious  features  of  the  organization  shall  always 
be  paramount.  The  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  centres  about 
the  prayer-meeting.  The  strict  prayer-meeting  pledge,  honestly 
interpreted,  is  essential  to  the  continued  success  of  a  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavor.’  A  society  thus  organized  among  the  young 
people  has  proved  itself  to  be  in  many  cases  a  half-way  house  to  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


34i 


church.  This  society  is  also  a  training  school  in  the  church.  This 
society  is  also  a  watch-tower  for  the  church.” 

The  Christian  Endeavor  bands  number  21,080,  societies  with  a 
total  membership  of  1,370,200.  Over  120,000  young  people  from 
the  various  bands  have  become  church  members.  ‘‘These  four 
principles  characterize  this  movement:  The  consecration  meeting , 
the  commitee  work,  the  pledge  to  outspoken  loyalty,  the  unsectarian 
fellowship,  these  must  be  of  God’s  ordering,  because  they  are  God- 
blessed.  These  are  what  make  the  society  more  than  an  organiza¬ 
tion,  a  world- wide  movement.” 


YOUNG  WOMEN’S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

The  work  of  these  associations  among  women  is  four-fold: 

Physical — Systematic  training  in  the  gymnasiums,  health  talks, 
and  holiday  excursions. 

Social — Receptions  and  socials  in  home-like  rooms,  musical  and 
literary  entertainments,  helpful  companionships. 

Intellectual — Libraries  and  reading-rooms,  and  educational  classes. 

Spiritual — Bible  training  classes,  evangelistic  meetings,  personal 
work. 

General  statistics:  Membership  of  American  Associations,  12,000. 
The  International  Association  was  formed  in  1886.  General  office 
No.  153,  La  Salle  street,  Chicago,  Ill.  The  International  Committee 
of  twenty-seven  members  controls  the  work.  The  officers  are: 
Chairman,  Mrs.  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.;  Secretary,  Mrs.  F.  T.  West; 
Treasurer,  Mrs.  L.  W.  Messer. 

Thirteen  States  have  organized  State  associations.  Each  State 
holds  an  annual  convention.  The  International  Convention  occurs 
biennially.  Each  year  a  summer  school  is  held  for  the  training  of 
young  women  in  secretarial  and  Bible  work.  “  The  Evangel,"  the 
official  organ  of  the  associations,  is  published  monthly  at  Chicago. 
The  second  Thursday  of  October  is  observed  as  a  day  of  prayer  for 
young  women.  A  special  department  is  maintained  for  young 
women  of  colleges.” 


342 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


THE  ORDER  OF  KING’S  DAUGHTERS. 

“  The  Order  of  the  King’s  Daughters  is  a  religious  order  of 
service,  composed  of  thousands  of  small  circles  united  in  one 
great  organization  that  numbers  now  over  200,000  members.  It  is 
a  Christian  but  unsectarian  order,  and  its  members  may  be  found  in 
all  churches  and  in  almost  all  nations.  It  originated  in  New  York 
City,  and  has  spread  over  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union,  and  has 
its  representatives  in  Canada,  England,  France,  Italy,  India,  Aus¬ 
tralia,  New  Zealand  and  other  countries.  Each  individual  circle 
may  choose  its  own  field  of  labor,  but  cannot  escape  the  obligations 
of  service. 

“Its  original  circle  of  ten  women,  to  which  have  been  made  some 
additions,  forms  now  the  Central  Council  of  the  order.  The  first 
meeting  of  this  original  circle  was  held  in  New  York  City  on 
January  18,  1886.  It  is  now  six  years  old  and  it  ranks  among  the 
strongest  and  most  useful  societies  of  the  world.  It  issues  a  monthly 
magazine  called  The  Silver  Cross ,  which  is  most  helpful  to  the 
order  and  takes  a  high  rank  among  the  religious  and  philanthropic 
periodicals  of  the  country.  It  deals  with  every  topic  by  which 
women  may  be  made  helpful  to  humanity.  Its  work  in  aid  of  every 
charitable  object  is  effective  and  increasing.  The  badge  is  a  small 
Maltese  Cross  of  silver,  often  worn  with  a  knot  of  purple  ribbon. 
The  order  is  an  incorporated  society  of  which  this  little  cross  is  the 
seal.’’  Its  headquarters  are  at  No.  158  West  Twenty-third  street, 
New  York  City. 

The  motto  of  the  order  is  “  IN  HIS  NAME." 

Mrs.  F.  Bottome  is  the  President  of  the  Order. 

MINISTERING  CHILDREN'S  LEAGUE. 

“This  organization  was  founded  by  the  Countess  of  Meath;  it 
now  has  branches  all  over  the  world,  and  is  rapidly  growing  in 
membership.  Each  national  branch  has  a  central  secretary,  to 
whom  all  the  local  branches  report,  but  each  local  branch  elects  its 
own  officers.  These  exist  in  almost  every  State  of  the  Union. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


343 


The  members  of  the  Ministering  Children’s  League  are  children, 
and  associated  with  them  are  parents,  Sunday-school  teachers  and 
others  who  join  as  associate  members.  Children  of  all  ages  and 
denominations  are  eligible  for  membership.  The  objects  of  the 
league  are  stated  to  be;  To  promote  kindness,  unselfishness  and  the 
habit  of  usefulness  among  children  and  to  create  in  their  minds  an 
earnest  desire  to  help  the  needy  and  suffering;  the  rule  of  the 
League  is,  ‘  Every  member  must  try  to  do  at  least  one  kind  deed 
every  day.’  The  motto  of  the  League  is,  ‘  No  day  without  a  deed 
to  crown  it.’  Beds  in  charitable  institutions  are  being  supported  by 
Ministering  Children.  A  chapel  for  the  Indians  has  been  built 
through  the  exertions  of  one  little  band  of  members  in  New  York. 
It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  good  this  League  has  done;  but  it  has 
certainly  made  homes  happier,  taught  members  to  become  better 
sons  and  daughters,  kinder  brothers  and  sisters,  truer  friends  and  to 
be  merciful  to  dumb  beasts.  And  they  are  also  trained  to  be  useful 
and  helpful  in  every  practicable  way.  The  Central  Secretary  for  the 
United  States  is  Mrs.  F.  E.  Benedict,  54  Lefferts  Place,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.” 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


WORKING  GIRLS’  CLUBS. 

EDITED  BY  GRACE  H.  DODGE.* 

IT  is  pleasant  to  feel  that  among  tne  achievements  of  American 
women  during  the  present  century  can  stand  the  Working  Girls’ 
Clubs. 

The  following  pages  voice  the  sentiments  of  hundreds  of  enthusi¬ 
astic  members,  and  it  is  only  to  be  regretted  that  space  will  not  allow 
a  more  detailed  presentation  of  facts. 

The  first  working  girls’  society  or  club  in  New  York  grew  out  of  a 
series  of  evening  talks,  when  a  large  group  of  busy  girls  met  to  dis¬ 
cuss  practical  matters,  and  to  learn  with  the  leader  things  which 
would  help  them  in  their  probable  future  lives,  as  wives,  mothers  and 
housekeepers.  It  was  organized  in  January,  1884,  and  that  same 
winter  the  Philadelphia  New  Century  Working-women’s  Guild  was 
inaugurated.  Since  then  the  movement  has  spread  throughout  the 
country. 

A  club  is  an  organization  formed  among  busy  women  and  girls,  to 
secure  by  co-operation  means  of  self-support,  opportunities  for  social 
intercourse,  and  the  development  of  higher  and  nobler  aims.  It  is 
governed  by  the  members,  for  the  members,  and  it  strives  to  be  self- 
supporting.  Thus  three  compound  words  define  its  distinctive  char¬ 
acteristics — co-operation,  self-government,  self-reliance. 

One  strange  charge  has  been  brought  against  the  third  of  our 
principles:  “this  rule  of  self-support  will  inevitably  repel  from  the 
clubs  those  who  most  need  their  privileges,  and  for  whom  they  were 
mainly  instituted.’’  The  point  of  the  whole  matter  lies  in  the  proper 
answer  to  this  statement,  which  is  made  under  the  impression  that 


‘First  Director  of  the  New  York  Association  of  Working  Girls’  Societies. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


345 


working  girls’  clubs  were  “  mainly  instituted  ”  as  a  means  of  helping 
the  poverty-stricken,  the  destitute,  the  incapable.  This  is  simply  not 
the  fact.  They  grew  out  of  the  need  of  further  opportunities  for  self- 
help,  felt  by  some  and  divined  by  others,  and  were  not  created  at  all. 
It  is  apparently  impossible  for  some  of  our  friends  and  well-wishers 
to  realize  the  distinction  between  charity  and  co-operation,  between 
societies  to  aid  needy  working  girls,  and  clubs  of  working  girls  to 
help  themselves.  Our  clubs  do  not  pretend  to  cover  all  the  ground, 
do  not  assert  that  there  is  no  room  for  anything  else;  but  they  have 
one  definite  object,  that  of  increasing  the  opportunities,  mental, 
moral,  and  physical,  of  the  individual  working  girl  who  is  able  to 
earn  her  own  living,  but  unable,  without  combining  with  other  girls, 
to  obtain  all  that  she  desires  beyond  the  necessaries  of  life. 

Organizations  on  democratic  principles  are  well  understood  in  the 
United  States,  and  working  girls’  clubs  such  as  ours  are,  as  a  rule, 
composed  of  young  women  mainly  dependent  on  their  own  exertions, 
and  quickened  by  contact  and  experience  into  sympathy  with  those 
who  combine  in  bodies  looking  to  personal  advantage  or  advance¬ 
ment.  These  young  women,  often  too  conservative  to  take  an  active 
part  in  labor  movements,  are  usually  conversant  with  the  aims  and 
methods  of  trade  organizations,  and  are  very  frequently  members  of 
benefit  societies.  Such  thinkers  and  workers  are  readily  drawn  to 
co-operate  with  women  of  leisure  in  movements  where  individualism 
is  cherished,  and  as  our  clubs  are  self-governed,  each  member  has  an 
equal  right  to  direct  its  expenditures,  and  an  equal  responsibility  in 
procuring  the  necessary  funds.  By  aiming  toward  self-support  there 
is  a  sense  of  possession  among  all  the  members.  If  it  were  other¬ 
wise  the  club  would  belong  to  a  few  who  subscribed  toward  it.  The 
very  words  “  Our  Club”  enkindle  a  determination  to  make  it  indeed 
“Our  Club.” 

The  average  earnings  of  the  members  of  the  clubs  in  New  York 
are  five  dollars  a  week,  and  almost  any  one  of  them  can  afford,  when 
at  work,  to  pay  five  or  six  cents  per  week  to  her  club.  When  a  girl 
is  ill  or  out  of  work,  a  clause  in  the  by-laws  of  every  club  provides  for 
her  being  excused  for  the  time  being  from  paying  dues,  and  some¬ 
times  a  girl  who  cannot  meet  this  club  obligation  from  exceptional 
causes,  is  paid  for  by  a  friend.  In  one  society  a  little  cash  girl  was 


346 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


paid  for  by  an  older  member  for  a  year,  until  on  promotion,  she  was 
able  to  assume  her  own  expenses.  And  in  another,  a  non-worker 
paid  for  several  years  the  dues  of  a  young  girl  who  was  too  delicate 
to  work. 

That  the  girls  themselves  prefer  this  method  is  proved  by  their 
own  words.  *  ‘  Naturally  a  girl  working  for  her  living  is  more  or  less 
independent.  She  wishes  to  belong  to  an  organization  of  which 
she  feels  herself  a  part,  and  which  she  helps  to  maintain,”  writes  one. 
‘ 1  It  is  natural  for  working  girls  who  earn  a  salary  sufficient  to  sup¬ 
port  themselves  to  enter  a  society  where  they  can  obtain  the  benefit 
of  education  and  friendship  through  the  medium  of  their  own  money 
and  exertions.” 

The  monthly  dues  are  augmented  by  the  receipts  coming  in  from 
simple  entertainments,  to  which  the  friends  and  families  of  club  mem¬ 
bers  come,  gladly  paying  the  small  entrance  fee,  or  buying  the  useful 
articles  displayed  for  sale.  Sub-letting  the  rooms  during  the  day 
has  also  proved  helpful,  and  in  various  other  ways  the  members  try 
to  provide  the  requisite  funds. 

Frankness  and  honesty  are  insisted  upon,  and  when  it  is  deemed 
necessary  to  ask  for  donations  from  outsiders,  or  for  a  loan,  it  is  done 
with  the  full  understanding  and  by  vote  of  the  whole  club.  As  a 
rule  this  aid  is  only  needed  for  educational  classes,  or  for  special 
emergencies. 

A  Boston  club  officer  gave  expresssion  to  a  beautiful  thought  last 
spring  when  she  wrote,  “  I  think  the  striking  thing  about  this  new 
form  of  life  among  us  is  its  inexpensiveness  in  money,  and  its  im¬ 
mense  and  unending  cost  in  time,  in  work,  in  thought,  in  responsi¬ 
bility,  in  short  in  life.  True  child  of  the  daughters  of  labor,  it  lives 
not  by  money,  but  by  work.” 

The  government  of  the  clubs  is  vested  in  the  society  as  a  whole — 
all  have  an  equal  voice.  The  best  governed  are  those  who  yearly 
elect  a  council  of  twelve,  six  of  whom  are  the  officers,  and  two-thirds 
of  whom  must  be  wage  earners. 

Naturally  few  clubs  have  homes  of  their  own,  but  the  small  rooms 
are  well  utilized,  and  are  made  cozy  and  bright  by  the  brains  and 
busy  fingers  of  the  members.  The  girls  have  more  than  their  pleas¬ 
ant  rooms  and  their  evenings  for  social  intercourse,  however;  they 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


347 


have  their  classes  in  dressmaking,  millinery  and  cooking,  and  also  in 
French,  German,  singing,  etc.,  and  they  devote  one  evening  in  the 
week  or  month  to  debates  and  papers.  The  girls  and  women  often 
take  up  what  are  called  “deep”  subjects,  and  the  intelligence  and 
even  knowledge  they  show  in  the  discussions  is  most  remarkable,  con¬ 
sidering  the  limited  time  they  have  for  study.  Some  of  the  topics 
selected  by  the  members  for  discussion  during  the  present  year  have 
been:  “  Selecting  and  Furnishing  a  Home.”  “What  is  Required 
to  Make  a  Useful  Life.”  “  Competition  Between  Men  and  Women 
in  Business.”  “Do  We  Educate  Younger  Brothers  and  Sisters, 
and  How?”  “Are  Women  Moral  Reformers?”  “Abraham 
Lincoln  and  his  Life.”  These  subjects  are  chosen  at  random  from  a 
printed  list,  but  there  are  many  others  equally  interesting  and 
practical. 

Work  is  done  for  those  of  the  members  who  are  sick  or  in  need, 
and  others  outside  of  the  clubs  are  visited  and  cared  for  by  the 
Lend-a-Hand  Bands,  Relief  Committees,  etc. 

Libraries  are  collected  and  the  books  are  largely  circulated. 

In  some  clubs  a  woman  physician  is  in  attendance  on  certain 
nights,  who  cares  for  the  physical  wellfare  of  the  members,  and 
physical  culture  classes  are  growing  in  favor. 

Inner  circles  entitled,  “The  Three  Ps,”  from  the  motto  words, 
“Purity,  Perseverance,  Pleasantness,”  have  been  started  in  some  of 
the  clubs,  and  their  influence  upon  the  members  and  their  work¬ 
mates  is  very  helpful. 

Members  who  have  married  and  their  friends  have  also  formed  a 
small  inner  society,  which  they  call  “The  Domestic  Circle,”  its  ob¬ 
jects  being  to  broaden  the  ideas  of  those  belonging  to  it,  to  educate 
them  in  home  and  household  matters,  and  to  develop  co-operative 
measures  for  their  benefit.  This  meets  during  the  afternoon. 

The  following  defines  in  their  own  words  what  club  life  has  meant 
to  a  number  of  the  members. 

“It  is  a  social  gathering  place  to  meet  one  another,  a  membership  of 
love.  A  place  where  we  meet  to  advance  ourselves  and  help  to  ad¬ 
vance  others.  It  is  a  second  home,  a  place  to  know  yourselves 
and  others  too.  A  place  where  we  meet  with  kindness,  receive 
benefit,  and  go  away  feeling  strengthened.” 


348 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


“  There’s  almost  every  kind  of  work  represented  at  the  club,  and 
some  of  our  members  don’t  have  to  go  out  to  earn  their  daily  bread; 
we  all  meet  on  the  common  ground  of  womanhood  and  sisterhood; 
we  mutually  bridge  over  a  chasm  which  many  people  smiled  on  in¬ 
credulously  sometime  ago,  and  some  even  said  it  could  not  be  done, 
without  injury  to  one  or  the  other.  Happily  for  us  we  proved  that 
it  could  be  done,  and  it  is  working  successfully  now  for  some  years 
and  the  injury  has  not  appeared;  the  club  working  girl  does  not  feel 
that  she  is  looked  down  upon,  but  feels  that  she  has  gained  the  re¬ 
spect,  love,  sympathy  and  loyalty  of  a  staunch  friend,  while  the 
woman  of  leisure  feels  she  has  gained  a  true  friend  in  the  girl  who 
has  to  go  out  in  the  world  alone  day  after  day,  who  has  learned  so 
well  how  to  help  herself,  and  is  with  all  that,  a  true,  womanly 
woman;  there  is  something  strong  and  self-reliant  about  her,  she  is  to 
be  trusted.” 

‘  ‘  The  club  has  always  helped  in  educating  us  practically,  has 
taught  us  not  only  the  qualities  of  ideal  womanhood,  but  how  best  to 
strive  to  live  an  ideal  woman’s  life  in  our  small  way.  It  has  filled  a 
long  felt  want  in  having  a  place  to  spend  a  pleasant  and  profitable 
evening  at  a  small  cost.  Has  also  aided  in  creating  true  and  lasting 
friendships.  Has  further  taught  us  to  look  for  all  there  is  highest 
and  best  in  one  another.” 

“  It  has  helped  to  educate  us,  and  also  helped  me  to  overcome 
self-consciousness,  and  to  try  at  least,  to  look  at  the  bright  side  of 
life.” 

“  It  seems  a  little  thing  to  say  that  the  club  has  taught  one  to 
think,  has  roused  one  to  thought.  In  our  busy  lives  we  say  we 
have  so  little  time  to  think,  but  after  we  have  belonged  to  a  club 
awhile,  it  is  astonishing  to  find  how  much  time  we  have  to  think, 
and  how  much  we  cnn  think  of  in  a  very  short  time;  also  that  it  is 
the  busiest  people  who  think  most,  and  they  are  the  people  whom 
you  can  rely  on  when  anything  is  to  be  done.  ’  ’ 

When  clubs  began  to  multiply,  the  idea  of  the  Association  of 
Societies  developed.  Thus  eight  years  ago,  the  first  or  New  York 
Association  organized  with  the  following  objects: 

i.  To  bring  into  communication,  strengthen  and  knit  together 
the  Societies  of  which  it  is  composed  and  to  protect  their  interests. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


349 


2.  To  assist  the  Societies  of  which  it  is  composed  in  securing  the 
services  of  good  teachers,  physicians  and  lecturers,  and  otherwise  in 
carrying  into  effect  the  objects  for  which  they  are  formed,  and  to 
facilitate  the  interchange  of  useful  information  among  them. 

3.  To  make  known  the  aims  and  advantages  of  Working  Girls’ 
Societies  and  to  promote  the  adoption  of  right  principles  in  their 
formation  and  management. 

4.  To  encourage  the  formation  of  new  Societies. 

Twice  a  year  the  individual  members  come  together,  once  for 
social  intercourse,  and  once  to  listen  to  reports  of  each  other’s 
doings  and  interests. 

The  total  membership  of  the  Clubs  forming  the  New  York  Asso¬ 
ciation  in  1891  was  2418.  The  largest  Society  has  now  350  mem¬ 
bers  and  the  smallest  twenty.  Seven  Societies  rent  an  entire  house 
and  ten  rent  only  one  or  two  stories.  One  Club  owns  its  house. 
About  134  educational  classes  have  been  held,  beside  the  musical 
drill,  practical  talks,  etc. 

One  by  one,  co-operative  measures  have  developed,  until  now 
they  are  as  follows;  The  Mutual  Benefit  Fund,  The  Alliance  Em¬ 
ployment  Bureau,  Holiday  Houses  for  Summer  Vacations,  a  Choral 
Union,  a  club  paper,  Far  and  Near ,  and  the  Auxiliary  Society  of 
the  Association  of  Working  Girls’  Societies.  It  is  the  aim  of  the 
latter  to  devote  itself  to  the  promotion  and  establishment  of  clubs  or 
societies  for  working  girls,  and  of  suitable  boarding  places  in  the 
country  near  New  York,  and  to  encourage  such  other  means  and 
objects  as  may  from  time  to  time  appear  to  promote  the  physical, 
intellectual  and  moral  advancement  of  working  girls. 

The  vacation  plan  needs  especial  notice;  for  four  summers  one  of 
the  bright  young  officers  has  served  as  ‘ !  house-mother  ’  ’  of  two 
houses  on  the  Long  Island  shore.  Here  come  large  bodies  of  club 
members,  who  pay  three  dollars  a  week  board,  and  who  gladly  take 
part  in  the  care  of  the  houses.  The  running  expenses  are  met  by 
the  board,  and  the  extras  by  subscriptions  from  personal  friends  of 
the  association.  No  public  subscriptions  are  allowed. 

From  New  York  the  movement  has  grown  until  there  are  strong 
associations  in  three  states,  and  societies  on  these  principles  all  over 
the  country.  Summer  houses  upon  the  basis  of  the  three  principles 


350 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


are  starting  in  many  places,  cared  for  by  charming  young  women 
who  give  up  the  summer  to  living  among  and  keeping  house  for 
tired  workers. 

In  Chicago  three  “  Lunch  Room  Clubs”  have  started,  and  two  at 
least  are  now  self-supporting  as  well  as  self-governed. 

All  this  means  much  thought,  self-sacrifice,  and  earnest  purpose. 
It  also  means  that  each  one  must  forget  self  in  the  good  of  all.  But 
the  reward  will  be  a  realization  that  we  are  helping  to  bring  about  the 
time  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  for  surely  this  will  be  hastened  by 
women’s  learning  to  know  each  other  better,  to  have  more  honor  and 
respect  for  each  other’s  position,  and  to  work  together  in  co-opera¬ 
tive  friendship.  Self-government  will  lead  to  self-reliance,  and  this 
in  turn  will  make  stronger,  nobler  people,  who,  learning  their  own 
weaknesses,  have  looked  up  and  received  help  from  above. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 


WOMAN’S  NATIONAL  CHRISTIAN 
TEMPERANCE  UNION. 


EDITORIAL. 


“  The  following  statement  is  taken  from  “  Harper’s  Pocket  Cyclopaedia.’ 


HE  Woman’s  National  Christian  Temperance  Union  (W.  C. 


1  T.  U.)  was  organized  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  1874,  and  now 
extends  throughout  all  the  States  and  Territories,  with  the  exception 
of  Alaska.  There  are  forty  departments  of  work  and  10,000  local 
Unions,  the  membership  of  which,  including  children’s  societies,  is 
about  half  a  million.  Headquarters  are  in  Chicago,  Ill.,  where  a 
Woman’s  Temperance  Temple  is  erected,  costing  $1,200,000.  It 
has  also  a  publishing  house.  The  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union  has  secured  the  study  of  scientific  temperance  in  the  public 
schools  of  all  the  States,  except  ten,  and  also  laws  forbidding  the 
sale  of  tobacco  to  minors;  has  established  industrial  homes  for  girls; 
refuges  for  fallen  women,  and  caused  the  age  of  consent  to  be  raised. 
Since  1883,  thirty-three  nationalities  have  supplied  auxiliaries.” 

The  following  facts  regarding  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  World’s 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  have  been  taken  from  the 
“Thumb  Nail  Sketches  of  White  Ribboners.” 

Miss  Frances  E.  Willard  was  the  founder,  and  for  five  years  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  World’s  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and 
now  for  twelve  years  president  of  the  National  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Union. 

Miss  Willard  was  a  graduate  of  the  Northwestern  University, 
Chicago.  After  holding  the  chair  of  Professor  of  Natural  Science,  and 
of  /Esthetics  in  two  colleges,  and  having  traveled  through  Europe, 


352 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Greece,  Egypt  and  Palestine,  in  1879,  Miss  Willard  was  made  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  National  Woman’s  Temperance  Union,  the  largest  society 
ever  organized,  conducted  and  controlled  exclusively  by  women. 
She  made  the  tour  of  the  Southern  States  in  1881-1883,  visiting 
every  State  and  Territory,  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  traveling 
during  that  time  30,000  miles. 

Miss  Willard  gave  to  the  National  Woman’s  Temperance  Union 
its  motto:  “  For  God  and  Home  and  Native  Land,”  and  classified 
its  forty  departments  of  work,  under  the  heads  of  Preventive,  Educa¬ 
tional,  Evangelistic,  Social,  Legal  and  Organization.  In  1884,  she 
helped  to  establish  the  Home  Protection  Party.  In  1887,  she  was 
elected  president  of  the  Woman’s  Council  of  the  United  States, 
formed  from  the  confederated  societies  of  women.  Miss  Willard  is 
the  originator  of  the  great  petition  against  alcohol  and  opium  trade 
(2,000,000  names  being  now  secured)  which  is  to  be  presented  to 
all  governments  by  a  commission  of  women.  As  author,  also,  Miss 
Willard  stands  in  the  front  ranks.  Of  her  autobiography,  50,000 
copies  have  been  sold.  She  is  the  author  of  many  works,  and  is  one 
of  the  editors  of  The  Union  Signal,  the  official  organ  of  the  World’s 
and  National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Unions,  and  she  is 
also  associated  with  Joseph  Cook,  as  editor  of  Our  Day,  (Boston). 
Miss  Willard  is  also  one  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Woman’s 
National  Temperance  Hospital,  and  of  the  Woman’s  Temperance 
Temple,  Chicago,  the  chief  room  in  which  is  called  Willard  Hall. 
Miss  Willard  is  also  at  the  head  of  the  purity  work  of  the  Woman’s 
and  National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union- 

Miss  Willard  has  been  made  chairman  of  the  Woman’s  Tem¬ 
perance  Committee  of  the  Columbian  Exposition,  Archbishop 
Ireland,  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  Men’s  Committee,  (with  which 
this  is  correlated),  having  requested  that  she  represent  the  women. 

WOMAN’S  TEMPERANCE  PUBLISHING  ASSOCIATION. 

This  institution  was  founded  by  Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse,  in  1880. 
The  stock  is  sold  to  women  only,  and  they  must  be  white-ribboners. 
It  employs  several  editors,  and  publishes  The  Union  Signal,  with  a 
weekly  circulation  of  about  80,000,  the  Oak  and  Ivy  Leaf,  organ  of 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


353 


the  young  women’s  work,  and  The  Young  Crusader,  organ  of  the 
children’s  work,  also  a  large  and  varied  assortment:  of  books  and 
leaflets.  Mrs.  F.  H.  Rastall,  is  business  manager  of  this  association, 
which  prints  from  120,000,000  to  130,000,000  pages  of  temperance 
literature  each  year,  and  annually  handles  from  $200,000  to  $250,000 
employing  about  125  persons. 

NATIONAL  TEMPERANCE  HOSPITAL 

‘ 1  The  National  Temperance  Hospital  was  founded  to  demon¬ 
strate  the  principle  that  alcohol  is  not  necessary  as  a  remedial  agent, 
and  it  is  doing  its  work  well.  Hundreds  of  patients  suffering  from 
all  classes  of  diseases  except  contagious  ones  have  been  successfully 
treated  there.  Severe  surgical  operations  are  performed  almost  daily 
and  no  wine,  brandy,  or  other  alcoholic  ever  administered  to  ‘  keep 
up  the  strength,  or  tide  the  patient  over  the  crisis.’  The  death  rate  last 
year  was  only  four  per  cent. ,  a  lower  rate  than  in  hospitals  receiving 
the  same  class  of  patients  and  treating  them  with  alcoholics.  In 
connection  with  the  hospital  is  the  Clara  Barton  Training  Schools  for 
Nurses,  which  is  doing  a  grand  work  in  training  young  women  to 
nurse  patients  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  non-alcoholic 
medication.  The  hospital  is  located  at  341 1  Cottage  Grove  Avenue, 
Chicago,  a  beautiful  situation  in  the  midst  of  a  private  park  over¬ 
looking  the  lake.  But  its  quarters  are  already  too  limited,  and  a  new 
building  is  a  necessity.  Mrs.  M.  E.  Kline  is  president  of  the 
National  Temperance  Hospital  Board.” 

WOMAN’S  LECTURE  BUREAU.  • 

1  The  Woman’s  Lecture  Bureau,  which  is  a  branch  of  the 
Women’s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  is  the  only  lecture  bureau  in 
the  world  conducted  by  women.  Its  design  is  to  systemize  the  work 
of  furnishing  lecturers,  which  are  constantly  being  called  for  by  State 
and  local  unions  throughout  the  country.  Although  organized  and 
conducted  by  women,  both  men  and  women  have  been  on  its  list 
of  speakers  from  the  beginning.  However,  the  greatest  care  is  exer¬ 
cised  in  regard  to  the  speakers  sent  out,  and  it  is  required  that  before 


354 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


persons  are  put  on  its  lists  they  shall  be  recommended  by  the  general 
officers  of  the  State  temperance  organizations  from  which  they  come. 
Being  in  the  beginning  in  communication  with  between  5,000  and 
10,000  Unions  throughout  the  country,  the  undertaking  at  once  com¬ 
manded  a  large  field.  Mrs.  R.  A.  Emmons  is  secretary  of  the 
Bureau.” 


THE  TEMPERANCE  TEMPLE. 


This  imposing  structure,  erected  at  a  cost  of  $1,200,000,  through 
the  efforts  of  Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse,  is  one  of  the  greatest  financial 
undertakings  successfully  carried  out  by  women.  The  account  of 
this  stupendous  enterprise  achieved  through  the  persistent  labors  and 
unwearied  zeal  of  Mrs.  Carse,  is  more  fully  described  in  another  de¬ 
partment  of  the  volume. 

,The  white  ribbon  is  the  badge  of  all  the  Women’s  Christian  Tem¬ 
perance  Union  members,  and  is  now  a  familiar  emblem  in  every  civ¬ 
ilized  country. 


YOUNG  WOMEN’S  CHRISTIAN  TEM¬ 
PERANCE  WORK. 


BY  FRANCES  J.  BARNES.* 


HE  National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  the  lineal 


1  descendant  of  the  great  temperance  crusade  of  1873-4,  ar>d  is 
a  union  of  Christian  women  for  the  purpose  of  educating  the  young; 
forming  a  better  public  sentiment;  reforming  the  drinking  classes; 
transforming  by  the  power  of  Divine  Grace  those  who  are  enslaved 
bv  alcohol;  and  securing  the  entire  abolition  of  the  liquor  traffic.” 

The  Young  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  has  become  an 
important  branch  of  this  parent  society. 

At  one  of  the  first  conventions  held  by  the  organization,  the  follow¬ 
ing  resolution  was  adopted: 

Resolved, — That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  draft  an  appeal  to 


*  World's  and  National  Secretary,  Young  Women’s  Branch,  National  Women's  Christian 
Temperance  Union. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


355 


the  young  women  of  our  land,  that  they  may  give  their  social  and 
personal  interest  to  favor  the  temperance  reform. 

Although  Young  Ladies’  Temperance  Leagues  were  started  in 
different  places  at  earlier  dates,  in  1876  at  Amboy,  Illinois,  the  first 
society  under  the  name  of  Young  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union  was  organized. 

In  1878,  through  the  efforts  of  twelve  earnest  young  women  who 
met  with  the  Central  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Chi¬ 
cago,  three  Young  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Unions  were 
formed,  and  their  first  work  was  appealing  to  all  young  women, 
through  the  columns  of  the  daily  papers,  not  to  offer  wine  on  New 
Year’s  Day.  They  continued  their  good  works  in  the  Sabbath- 
school,  among  children,  at  their  own  meetings,  and  at  temperance 
socials  where,  by  signing  the  pledge  and  paying  a  fee,  young  men 
were  invited  to  become  honorary  members. 

During  the  succeeding  years  the  work  was  slowly  becoming  a 
stronghold,  and  more  unions  were  formed,  enlisting  many  of  the 
noblest  Christian  women  of  our  land. 

In  1880  young  women’s  work  was  made  a  department  of  the 
National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  a  superinten- 
tendent  was  appointed.  The  Floral  Report  was  the  designation  given 
to  the  record  of  1882,  because  each  state  was  given  an  emblematic 
flower,  and  the  oak  and  ivy  leaf  with  the  lily  of  the  valley  formed  the 
national  emblem.  At  Louisville,  Ky.,  this  report  was  given  with  a 
basket  of  the  flowers  named,  and  proved  a  suggestion  to  the  National 
Superintendent  of  Flower  Mission  Work  to  combine  the  beautiful 
message  of  flowers  with  temperance  sentiments. 

Kitchen-gardens,  hygiene  clubs  and  cheerful  home  societies,  tea 
rooms,  rest  cottages,  hospitals  and  a  wider  range  of  press-work  were 
instituted  by  the  young  women. 

In  1886  the  first  national  organizer  of  young  women’s  work  was 
appointed,  and  a  bed  for  young  women  in  the  National  Temperance 
Hospital  was  endowed. 

The  Oak  and  Ivy  Leaf  five  national  organ  of  the  Young  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  made  its  first  appearance  in  1887. 

The  national  department  prepared  and  presented  in  1 888  a  national 
banner  to  Michigan  for  greatest  increased  per  cent,  of  membership 


356 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


during  the  year.  This  was  sent  to  the  Paris  Exposition,  and  on  its 
return  awarded  to  Connecticut  in  1889,  and  to  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio  jointly  in  1890.  It  forms  one  of  the  decorations  of  the  “  Y” 
parlor  at  the  present  Columbian  Exposition. 

At  the  State  and  National  conventions,  the  young  women’s  even¬ 
ing  has  become  one  of  the  most  attractive  and  useful  features. 

In  order  to  increase  the  strength  of  the  work,  and  extend  its  influ¬ 
ence,  numerous  and  varied  pamphlets,  leaflets,  and  books  have 
been  issued,  and  a  special  song  book  for  Young  Women’s  Christian 
Temperance  Unions  was  published  in  1889.  In  1891,  the  National 
Superintendent  published  a  complete  manual  on  Young  Women’s 
Work. 

During  the  annual  meeting  of  the  British  Women’s  Temperance 
Association  held  in  London,  May  21  and  22,  1890,  the  Young 
Women’s  Work  of  America  was  presented  by  the  National  Superin¬ 
tendent,  who  was  appointed  a  fraternal  delegate  to  the  convention. 

The  superintendency  of  Young  Women’s  Work  in  Great  Britain 
was  accepted  by  Lady  Henry  Somerset,  President  of  the  Association, 
and  May,  1S91,  showed  an  organization  of  sixteen  “Y”  branches 
there. 

Unions  report  from  New  Zealand,  Hawaiian  Islands,  Queensland, 
South  Australia,  Turkey,  South  Africa,  France,  Italy,  Canada,  and 
the  Maritime  Provinces,  showing  an  increased  interest  and  progress 
in  temperance  work.  The  national  superintendent  in  1891  was  made 
superintendent  for  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Temperance  Work 
of  the  world,  and  Miss  Marion  Isabel  Gibson,  of  Paris,  was  made 
“Y”  superintendent  for  France. 

With  the  increase  of  interest  and  workers  for  the  grand  temperance 
cause,  the  association  has  reason  to  be  justly  encouraged,  but  the 
field  of  work  is  yet  so  large  and  full  of  opportunities  that  more  labor¬ 
ers  are  needed  in  Christ's  vineyard. 

The  home,  the  social  and  educational  world  are  the  field  of  this 
great  work,  especially  of  prevention  rather  than  cure,  classified  under 
three  general  headings. 

1.  Acquiring  and  disseminating  temperance  knowledge. 

2.  Working  for  children  and  youth. 

3.  Social  influence.  The  purpose  of  our  great  undertaking  is 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


357 


admirably  expressed  by  the  presidnt  of  Knox  College  in  his  welcom¬ 
ing  address  to  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  of  Illinois. 
They  are  to  serve  in  positions  “  of  unspeakable  dignity  and  moment, 
to  touch  the  keys  of  social,  moral,  religious  and  national  destiny,  to 
minister  at  altars  the  most  sacred,  to  stand  within  temple  gates,  to 
guard  the  ark  of  the  covenant,”  and  faithfully  protect  the  childhood 
of  the  world. 

It  is  the  aim  of  the  Department  of  Young  Women’s  Work  to  use 
all  their  power  and  influence  to  strengthen  the  whole,  and  make 
worthy  inheritors  of  the  duties  that  shall  be  theirs  when  the  older 
members  shall  have  passed  from  “works  to  rewards.”  Their 
mission  is  to  keep  up  the  interest  and  training  of  those  who  are 
between  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legions  of  children,  and  the  Wom¬ 
an’s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  that  they  may  be  ready  for 
hearty  consecrated  service. 

Up  to  1892  the  Young  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union 
shows  a  membership  of  30,000;  there  has  been  an  increased  rooting 
and  grounding  in  the  work,  due  to  a  general  and  united  study  of  the 
Bible  and  to  meetings  of  prayer  and  consecration  held  by  the 
Unions.  Schools  of  Methods  and  Conferences  on  Young  Women’s 
Work  have  been  held  in  various  states,  resulting  in  a  growth 
of  knowledge  of  ways  and  means  employed  by  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  at  the  same  time  kindling  the  hearts  of 
young  workers  with  a  fresh  enthusiasm.  In  some  states  Parliament¬ 
ary  Practice  is  a  department  taken  up  by  some  of  the  “  Ys,”  while 
physical  culture  is  becoming  a  leading  and  favorite  feature  among 
temperance  girls.  Other  departments  claiming  first  choice  of  the 
young  women,  and  steadily  carried  on  from  year  to  year  are  the 
Loyal  Temperance  Legion,  Flower  Mission,  distribution  of  temper 
ance  literature  and  social  temperance  gatherings.  The  “Y’s”  are 
enthusiastic  workers  in  behalf  of  prison  and  jail,  lailroad  men, 
lumbermen  and  miners,  soldiers  and  sailors,  franchise,  Sabbath 
observance,  unfermented  wine  at  the  sacrament,  remonstrances  and 
music,  while  the  Oak  and  Toy  Leaf  has  a  large  circulation  among 
the  membe 

Reports  from  various  centres  over  the  world,  show  untiring  energy 
and  labor  on  the  part  of  most  of  the  young  women  who  are  ever 


35» 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


zealous  in  furthering  the  interests  of  the  great  cause  which  they  nave 
undertaken. 

With  so  large  an  army  o.  Christians  marching  against  all  that  is 
wrong,  and  toward  everything  right,  we  can  thank  God  for  these 
willing  volunteers  in  the  Young  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


HOSPITALS. 

EDITORIAL. 

REGARDING  women’s  work  in  connection  with  the  hospitals  of 
America  I  have  not  been  able  to  procure  definite  statistics. 
From  the  article,  “Care  of  the  Sick,”  by  Ednah  Dow  Cheney,  in 
“Woman’s  Work  in  America,”  I  have  gathered  the  following 
items:  “New  York  Infirmary,  established  in  1857;  Women’s  Hos¬ 
pital,  i860;  New  England  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children,  1862; 
Chicago  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children,  1865;  Pacific  Dispen¬ 
sary  and  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children;  Ohio  Hospital,  North¬ 
western  Hospital,  Minneapolis;  all  provide  clinical  instruction  for 
women.  The  hospital  in  Chicago,  like  other  promising  children  of 
the  East,  transplanted  to  the  West,  has  outgrown  its  parents,  and 
is  now  the  largest  institution  of  its  kind  in  this  country,  and  probably 
in  the  world.  It  has  eighty  beds.”  Among  other  hospitals  where 
women  are  admitted  as  professors  and  students,  may  be  mentioned 
the  Massachusetts  Homeopathic  Hospital,  St.  Luke’s  Hospital  As¬ 
sociation  in  Jacksonville,  Fla.  The  Women’s  Homeopathic  Asso¬ 
ciation  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Philadelphia  Home  for  Incurables,  the 
Home  of  Mercy,  in  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  and  the  Fletcher  Hospital  in 
Burlington,  Vt.,  which  was  planned  and  endowed  by  Miss  Mary 
Fletcher. 

In  the  report  of  the  Government  Bureau  of  Education,  in  1889,  the 
number  of  training  schools  for  nurses  in  the  United  States,  was  stated 
as  33,  number  of  instructors  ,  260,  number  of  pupils,  1,248,  of  which 
956  were  women. 

Regarding  the  societies  formed  by  women  for  supplying  nurses  to 
the  sick  poor,  the  following  statement  was  taken  from  “Woman’s 
Work  in  America:” 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


360 

In  New  York  City  the  Woman’s  Branch  of  the  New  York  City 
Mission,  sends  out  five  nurses  among  the  poor.  These  nurses  have 
all  had  a  full  course  of  training  at  some  hospital.  This  mission  claims 
to  be  the  first  society  in  America  to  have  introduced  trained  nurses 
in  its  work. 

“The  Department  of  United  Relief  Works  of  the  Society  of 
Ethical  Culture,  organized  in  1879,  furnishes  nurses  to  Demilt  and 
New  York  Dispensaries.  During  the  year  1888-1889,  these  nurses 
paid  on  an  average  2,800  visits  to  about  700  patients,  including  all 
diseases,  even  of  the  most  infectious  nature,  and  quite  irrespective 
of  creed  and  nationality. 

“The  Mt.  Sinai  Training  School,  supplies,  at  its  own  expense 
(being  at  present  a  separate  organization  from  the  hospital)  from 
among  its  nurses  not  yet  graduated,  but  experienced  in  hospital 
training,  a  nurse  who  administers  to  the  sick  irrespective  of  creed, 
nationality,  or  disease,  under  the  direction  of  physicians.”  The 
order  of  deaconesses,  in  the  various  cities,  also  act  in  the  capacity  of 
nurse. 

One  has  only  to  inquire  into  the  work  of  women  in  any  one  of  the 
large  cities  of  the  United  States,  in  connection  with  charitable  and 
Christian  institutions  to  form  a  very  correct  estimate  of  the  import¬ 
ant  part  taken  by  women  in  the  organization  and  support  of  these 
philanthropic  enterprises.  In  the  hospitals,  orphan  asylums,  day 
nurseries,  retreats,  various  homes,  for  the  aged,  and  like  benevolent 
philanthropies,  every  city  can  bear  its  vivid  testimony  to  the  efficient 
labors  of  women.  If  one  could  secure  the  statistics  of  the  many  mu¬ 
nificent  gifts  of  women  to  these  institutions,  the  generous  sum  would 
doubtless  be  surprising.  Now  and  then  some  item  is  recorded,  such 
as  the  contribution  of  Miss  Mary  Elizabeth  Garrett  of  Baltimore,  to 
John  Hopkins’  University,  whose  donation  has  reached  the  figure  of 
$354,764.50,  which  makes  up  the  amount  of  $500,000  needed  to 
open  the  medical  school,  to  which  women  shall  be  admitted  on  equal 
terms  with  men. 

It  is  estimated  that  in  the  United  States  the  annual  expenditure  for 
public  charitable  institutions  is  fully  $125,000,000,  and  not  less  than 
$500,000,000  is  invested  in  buildings  and  equipments  for  carrying  on 
the  work  of  these  institutions.  In  this  estimate  no  account  is  taken 


1 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


361 


of  penitentiaries  and  jails.  It  is  estimated  that  church  property  in 
the  United  States,  which  in  1850  amounted  to  $87,000,000  in  1890 
reached  $631,000,000.  We  give  these  figures  not  as  items  regard¬ 
ing  women’s  special  work,  but  to  show  the  grand  advance  of  Christ¬ 
ian  and  philanthropic  institutions  in  the  United  States. 

The  following  account  of  the  founding  of  several  of  the  New  York 
hospitals  has  been  kindly  furnished  by  Miss  Helen  Evertson  Smith, 
of  Brooklyn: 

“  The  earliest  hospital  in  America  for  women  is  the  “  New  York 
Asylum  for  Lying-in- Women,”  established  in  1822,  incorporated  in 
1829,  and  still  continuing  its  good  work  at  No.  139  Second  Avenue, 
New  York  City. 

We  have  not  been  able  to  learn  the  names  of  its  founders,  but  they 
were  all  women,  and  the  Asylum  has  always  been  governed  solely  by 
women.  It  was  designed  for  poor  married  women,  who  often  suffer 
terribly  in  their  homes  for  want  of  proper  comforts,  care,  and  medical 
attendance.  The  hospital  is  small,  but  during  its  69  years  of  life,  it 
has  had  more  than  5,500  cases  of  confinement  within  its  walls,  and 
extended  medical  service  and  other  aid  to  nearly  20,000  out-of-door 
cases. 

‘‘Another  hospital  along  the  same  line,  but  with  broader  aims,  is 
the  ‘Sloane  Maternity  Hospital,’  at  the  corner  of  59th  street  and 
Amsterdam  avenue.  This  hospital  was  built  by  Mr.  William  D. 
Sloane,  at  a  cost  of  $225,000  and  endowed  by  his  wife — a  daughter 
of  Mr.  William  H.  Vanderbilt— with  a  fund  of  $250,000  which 
enables  all  of  its  forty-five  beds  to  be  free.  In  the  five  years  of  its 
existence,  nearly  2500  confinements  have  taken  place  within  its 
walls,  and  only  thirteen  deaths  have  occurred  from  all  causes.  It  is  a 
feature  of  this  institution  that  no  questions  shall  be  asked  of  any  who 
seek  its  aid. 

‘  ‘  But  the  crowning  glory  of  the  work  of  American  women  in  con¬ 
nection  with  hospitals,  is  the  ‘Woman’s  Hospital  in  the  State  of 
New  York.’  Not  only  was  it  the  first  public  hospital  established  in 
the  world  solely  for  the  diseases  peculiar  to  women,  but  had  it  not 
been  for  the  labors,  and  influence  of  a  few  noble  women,  its  first 
breath  could  never  have  been  drawn.  To  relate  the  struggles  of  the 
late  Dr,  J.  Marion  Sims— whose  memory  all  women  should  cherish 


362 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


— before  he  obtained  the  aid  of  the  women  referred  to,  would  be 
foreign  to  our  purpose.  Neither  can  we  even  mention  the  names  of 
many  of  the  women  who  made  success  possible  to  him.  Only  one 
of  the  first  board  of  managers  is  now  living — Mrs.  Charles  Aber- 
nethy,  then  Mrs.  Elisha  Peck.  She  has  continued  tirelessly  active  in 
the  work  during  all  the  years  of  bad  and  good  fortune,  since  1855. 
She  now  rejoices  in  seeing  the  hospital,  which  she  once  knew  to  be 
often  in  want  of  money  to  provide  the  daily  meals  for  its  patients 
and  officers,  one  of  the  most  nobly  endowed  of  similar  institutions. 

*■*  The  two  other  women  whose  zeal  and  influence  were  of  the 
highest  importance  to  the  embryo  hospital,  were  Mrs.  Thomas  C. 
Doremus,  a  full  sketch  of  whom  will  be  found  elsewhere,  and 
Mrs.  David  Cad  wise.  In  many  characteristics  these  women 
differed  widely,  but  they  felt  the  highest  esteem  for  each  other,  and 
both  were  mentally  and  physically  magnificent  women  even  to  their 
latest  days.  While  Mrs.  Doremus  was  in  the  thick  of  the  battle, 
looking  after  the  housekeeping,  sometimes  putting  her  own  hands  to 
needed  work,  and  encouraging  both  doctors  and  patients,  Mrs. 
Cadvvise  was  equally  busy  gathering  in  the  munitions  of  war, 
beating  the  woods  for  recruits  and  fairly  compelling  the  money  of 
the  rich,  and  the  influence  of  the  powerful.  Not  only  was  she 
principal  spokesman  of  committees  appointed  to  wait  upon  the 
aldermen  of  the  city  of  New  York,  but  she  privately  visited  each  at 
his  own  residence,  that  she  might  secure  his  pledge  to  vote  for  the 
donation  of  the  site  on  which  the  hospital  now  stands — then  the 
Potter’s  Field.  After  this  it  was  necessary  to  secure  the  consent  of 
the  Legislature  to  permit  New  York  City  to  give  away  its  own  land. 
Again  and  again  did  Mrs.  Cadwise,  then  a  woman  of  sixty  years 
of  age,  and  feeble,  go  with  other  ladies  to  Albany  to  obtain  this 
consent.  A  gentleman  who  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  during 
this  time,  has  said  that  ‘  while  other  women  could  be  refused  or  put 
oft,  the  tactics  of  Mrs.  Cadwise  were  irresistible.  Her  combined 
beauty  and  eloquence,  and  the  magnetic  warmth  of  her  generous 
sympathy  would  have  moved  a  stone.’ 

“  Mrs.  Cadwise  was  a  daughter  of  Gilbert  R.  Livingston  of  Red 
Hook,  N.  Y.  Connected  by  birth  and  marriage  with  all  those  of 
highest  social  position  in  New  York  City,  and  by  sympathy  and 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


363 


natural  affiliation  with  all  of  the  best  and  most  philanthropic  men 
and  women  of  that  city.  Mrs.  Cadwise  was  a  great  power  for  good 
in  her  day.  As  her  whole  life  was  one  unceasing  giving  to  public 
and  private  charities,  she  had  not  money  to  bequeathe,  and  so  keep 
her  name  in  remembrance,  and  she  left  no  descendants,  but  there 
are  many  institutions  which  in  their  beginnings  were  indebted  to  her 
efforts,  and  even  to-day  there  are  many  persons  who  are  glad  to  say: 

‘  We  owe  our  first  start  in  life,’  or  ‘  our  first  impulse  to  do  good  to 
Mrs.  Cadwise.’  ” 

The  work  of  these  noble  New  York  women  has  been  repeated 
in  the  history  of  the  numerous  charitable  institutions  throughout  our 
land,  and  the  names  mentioned  stand  only  as  representatives  of  a 
host  of  equally  self-sacrificing  women,  whose  consecrated  lives  have 
planted  the  seeds  of  loving  efforts  which  have  at  length  grown  into 
the  golden  harvest  fields  of  to-day,  yielding  their  hundred  fold  of 
precious  fruit. 

Regarding  the  various  “Homes”  for  the  aged,  children  and 
needy,  it  is  stated  in  “  Woman’s  Work  In  America:  ” 

“The  homes  for  the  aged  in  our  cities  are  many  of  them  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  churches  for  their  dependent  members.  Of  homes  for 
convalescents  and  incurables  there  are  very  few.  There  is  a  small 
Home  for  Incurables  in  Boston,  founded  by  a  young  Roman  Catho¬ 
lic  Irish  woman,  who  earned  her  daily  bread  by  hair  dressing,  and  who 
for  four  years  had  given  all  her  spare  time  and  money  to  the  care  of 
one  dying  girl  after  another,  until  she  was  enabled,  by  the  help  of 
friends  for  whom  she  worked,  to  open  the  Channing  Home,  which 
from  that  time  to  this  (now  long  after  her  death)  has  been  a  refuge 
for  poor  consumptive  girls  and  crippled  women.  The  homes  for 
children,  which  abound  in  almost  every  part  of  the  country,  have  all 
had  their  growth  in  less  than  ninety  years,  the  very  first  one  estab¬ 
lished  being  the  Boston  Female  Asylum,  opened  in  1800,  and  incor¬ 
porated  in  1803’  established  by  women  whose  granddaughters  and 
great-granddaughters  are  now  numbered  among  the  managers.” 

From  the  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  for  1 888-’  89,  1  have 
gathered  the  following:  “The  number  of  women  teachers  in  the 
institutions  for  the  deaf  in  the  United  States  was  362;  number  of  girl 
pupils  in  these  charitable  institutions,  3,521. 


364 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Number  of  institutions  for  the  blind  in  the  United  States,  thirty- 
three;  number  of  women  teachers,  202;  number  of  blind  girls  in  these 
institutions,  1,330. 

Number  of  institutions  for  the  feeble-minded  in  the  United  States, 
26;  number  of  women  teachers,  126;  number  of  girl  pupils,  1,474. 

The  statistics  of  the  reform  schools  of  the  United  States  are, 
number  of  schools,  fifty;  number  of  women  teachers,  539;  number  of 
girls  in  these  reform  schools,  3,063. 

MISSION  SCHOOL  OF  COOKERY  AND 
HOUSEWORK,  AND  OTHER 
INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS. 

Mrs.  Anna  Lowell  Woodbury,  of  Washington,  established  the 
first  Mission  School  of  Cookery  and  housework  in  the  United  States, 
in  1S79,  and  carried  it  on  at  her  own  expense  for  a  number  of  years. 
Mrs.  Woodbury  organized  the  school  for  the  purpose  of  improving 
the  home  life  of  the  poor.  The  Mission  School  in  Washington,  has 
given  instruction  to  over  1,000  girls,  both  white  and  colored.  Mrs. 
Woodbury  also  prepared  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  instruction 
in  cooking  in  the  public  schools.  In  consequence  of  the  wide  inter¬ 
est  taken  in  this  charity,  and  the  many  letters  received  from  all  parts 
of  the  country  asking  for  information  regarding  such  mission  schools, 
an  Industrial  Association  was  formed  in  1883,  with  an  Executive 
Committee  in  Washington,  of  which  Mrs.  Woodbury  is  chairman. 
This  National  Industrial  Association,  known  now  as  the  District  of 
Columbia  Industrial  Association,  has  done  a  good  work  in  establish¬ 
ing  schools  of  cookery,  and  encouraging  manual  training  in  the  pub¬ 
lic  schools.  As  stated  in  the  Report  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
“  the  object  of  the  Mission  School  of  Cookery  and  Housework  is  to 
supply  a  means  of  education  to  the  poor,  which  will  enable  them  to 
improve  their  homes  and  mode  of  life,  and  thus  benefit  their  health 
and  diminish  the  temptation  to  intemperance,  while  it  also  awakens 
in  them  an  ambition  to  become  self-supporting  members  of  society.” 
In  the  free  Mission  Cooking  Schools,  the  pupils  are  taught  how  to 
make  bread  and  some  kinds  of  cakes  and  desserts,  how  to  cook 
meats,  vegetables,  soups,  and  breakfast  dishes.  So  many  desiring  a 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


365 


cooking  school  for  ladies  who  could  afford  to  pay  for  their  own  or 
their  cooks’  tuition,  such  a  branch  pay-school  was  esbablished  in 
connection  with  the  free  Mission  Schools.  The  receipts  from  this 
source  help  to  provide  funds  for  the  free  schools. 

In  the  autumn  of  1861,  Mrs.  Woodbury,  with  other  New  England 
ladies,  organized  the  “Union  Hall  Association;  of  Boston,”  which 
was  formed  to  give  employment  to  the  wives  of  the  volunteer 
soldiers. 

These  ladies  took  large  contracts  of  clothing  at  the  Government 
price,  and  obtained  contributions  of  money  which  enabled  them  to 
give  regulated  wages  to  the  sewing-women.  Over  700  women  were 
employed  by  this  association  the  first  year,  and  more  than  70,000 
garments  of  different  kinds  were  made  by  these  needy  wives  of  sol¬ 
diers.  Out  of  70,000  garments  given  out  only  seventy- two  articles 
were  lost. 

Among  the  ladies  interested  with  Mrs.  Woodbury  in  the  “  Union 
Hall  Association,”  were  Mrs.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Mrs.  James 
T.  Fields,  and  others. 

Later,  during  the  War,  Mrs.  Woodbury  helped  to  organize  and 
personally  manage  the  special  diet  kitchen  in  connection  with  the 
Armory  Square  Hospital,  Washington. 

After  the  War  Mrs.  Woodbury,  with  Miss  Annie  Butterick,  Miss 
Mary  Felton,  and  Miss  Annette  Rogers,  organized  the  “Howard 
Industrial  School,”  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1865.  This  school  re¬ 
ceived  and  provided  for  several  hundred  colored  people,  sent  north 
by  Gen.  Charles  Howard  and  Gen.  S.  C.  Armstrong. 

This  was  one  of  the  earliest  industrial  schools,  and  exerted  a  wide 
influence.  Situations  were  found  in  Northern  families  for  the  colored 
women,  while  the  girls  and  children  were  kept  in  the  school,  and 
they  were  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  cooking,  sewing,  and 
household  work.  This  school  continued  for  three  years,  taking  in 
over  300  women  and  children. 

The  following  account  of  some  of  the  methods  employed  in  indus¬ 
trial  schools,  is  from  an  article  written  by  Annie  Isabel  Willis. 


366 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


A  NOVEL  SEWING  SCHOOL. 

UNIQUE  METHODS  EMPLOYED  IN  TEACHING  NEEDLE¬ 
WORK  TO  GIRLS. 

“In  the  heart  of  the  east-side  of  New  York  City  is  a  big,  plain 
building,  over  whose  door  is  the  sign:  ‘Wilson  Industrial  School 
for  Girls.’  Here  Miss  Emily  Huntington’s  famous  kitchen  garden, 
the  system  of  teaching  housework  by  means  of  toys,  was  first  put 
into  operation.  But  in  a  room  up  one  flight  from  where  these  allur¬ 
ing  housework  games  are  played  is  an  apartment  where  the  girls 
meet  to  learn  to  sew. 

“  Of  course  sewing  is  not  as  attractive  as  playing  with  tiny  dishpans 
and  washtubs  and  dishes,  but  here,  as  below,  the  work  is  made  as 
'pleasant  as  possible.  A  class  of  children  from  eight  to  ten  years  is 
just  entering.  They  rapidly  seat  themselves  in  low  chairs  around 
low,  broad  tables,  and  monitors  bring  out  bundles  of  work.  Each 
bundle  is  marked  with  a  tiny  thimble  bag  pinned  to  it,  on  which  is  the 
owner’s  name.  Thimbles,  needles,  thread  and  material  are  furnished, 
and  the  children  pay  the  penalty  for  any  loss  of  their  sewing  appar¬ 
atus.  How  ?  By  marks,  to  be  sure.  It  would  not  do  to  impose 
money  fines  on  these  poorly-dressed  youngsters,  whose  braids  are 
often  tied  with  rags. 

“  But  marks  are  serious  things  to  them,  because  their  credits  earn 
the  clothing  they  sew  on,  while  demerits  cancel  credits.  It  takes  a 
good  many  credits  to  earn  a  dress,  but  it  is  often  done.  Next  in 
price  is  a  queer  garment  designed  to  utilize  the  patchwork  calico 
with  which  overhanding  has  been  taught.  A  lot  of  the  blocks  are 
sewed  together  to  form  a  double  skirt, _  which  is  lined  with  cotton 
wadding,  quilted  and  given  a  stout  waist  or  band.  They  are  not 
pretty,  of  course,  but  are  very  warm. 

“  Miss  Kirkwood,  the  head  of  the  sewing  classes,  has  devised  a  way 
to  teach  sewing  by  copy.  It  is  called  the  school  sewing  practice 
cloth,  and  is  intended  for  this  purpose  as  a  copy-book  is  intended  to 
teach  writing.  About  a  yard  of  white  cotton  cloth  is  stamped  with 
all  the  plain  stitches,  hemming,  running,  felling,  even  buttonhole 


/ 


Miss  L.  Elizabeth  Price. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WO  MAE. 


367 


work,  ana  one  or  two  fancy  stitches.  When  a  child  has,  lesson  by 
lesson,  sewed  over  these  copy  stitches,  she  is  allowed  to  set  them 
without  a  copy  in  plain  garments.  A  sewing  primer,  which  lies  on 
Miss  Kirkwood’s  table,  has  lessons  in  question  and  answer  about  their 
work  and  its  materials. 

‘  ‘Occasionally  between  questions  and  inspection  of  work  the  teacher 
breaks  out  into  some  song  of  which  the  primer  is  full.  Instantly  all 
the  childish  voices  strike  in,  and  how  they  enjoy  it  while  their  fingers 
fly!  One  is  inclined  to  believe  that  there  never  would  have  been  so 
many  rebellious  hours  spent  in  learning  to  sew  if  the  children  of  the 
past  had  known  such  jolly  songs  as  these  or  had  sung  those  they 
knew.  Could  anyone  sew  slowly  while  rendering  ‘  Stitching  a  Robe 
for  Baby  ?  ’ 

Oh,  swift  flying  needle,  stitching  to  song, 

Through  muslin  and  linen  speed  you  along. 

So  much  is  to  do  quick  must  you  be; 

Work  shall  be  well  done  by  you  and  me. 

The  prime  favorite  is  one  sung  to  the  tune  of  ‘Oh,  Susannah,’ 
always  given  with  greac  enthusiasm.  Its  chorus  is: 

Oh,  my  sewing — that’s  the  work  for  me. 

I  just  can  have  the  nicest  time  with  sewing  on  my  knee.” 


DOROTHEA  LYNDE  DIX. 

BY  L.  ELIZABETH  PRICE. 

“IT  ERE  is  a  woman  who,  as  the  founder  of  vast  and  enduring  in- 
IT!  stitutions  of  mercy  in  America  and  in  Europe,  has  simply  no 
peer  in  the  annals  of  Protestantism,  to  find  her  parallel  in  this  respect, 
it  is  necessary  to  go  back  to  the  lives  of  such  memorable  Roman 
Catholic  women  as  St.  Theresa  of  Spain,  or  Santa  Chiara  of  Assisi, 
and  to  the  amazing  work  they  did  in  founding  throughout  European 
Christendom  great  conventual  establishments.” 


Francis  Tiffany. 


368 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


In  the  early  days  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  was  bom  in  the 
town  of  Hampden,  Me.,  a  little  girl  who  was  given  the  old-fashioned 
name  of  Dorothea.  Her  father  was  Dr.  Dix,  a  physician,  who  died 
while  his  daughter  was  yet  in  her  teens,  and  left  his  family  but  a 
slender  income.  Dorothea  was  obliged  to  support  herself,  and  she 
removed  to  Boston  to  open  a  girl’s  school,  which  she  continued  to 
conduct  until  1830,  when,  upon  the  death  of  a  relative,  she  inherited 
sufficient  property  to  relieve  her  from  the  necessity  of  daily  toil. 

She  disliked  to  be  talked  about,  even  in  praise,  and  the  records 
of  her  life  are  few,  but  the  light  that  she  lit  and  left  burning  cannot 
be  hidden  under  a  bushel,  and  it  is  to-day  a  shining  example  of  the 
blessing  that  one  good  life  can  be  to  the  world. 

In  her  youth  Miss  Dix  had  become  deeply  interested  in  the  con¬ 
dition  and  needs  of  criminals,  lunatics  and  paupers,  an  interest  that 
had  grown  and  developed,  and  when  the  hour  came  for  the  laborer 
to  go  into  the  field,  thought  was  ripe  for  the  work. 

When  she  was  a  little  girl  she  had  one  day  heard  two  men  on  the 
street  telling  of  and  deploring  a  great  wrong,  which  they  did  not  see 
a  way  to  overcome,  and  in  later  years  when  she  was  able  to  aid  hu¬ 
manity  it  was  to  this  cause  she  turned  her  attention  and  gave  her 
heroic  life-work. 

To  fully  realize  what  she  has  done  for  our  country  it  is  important 
to  remember  the  exact  state  of  things  prevailing  in  New  England 
fifty  years  ago.  The  powerful  system  of  Calvinism,  which  was  the 
religion  of  the  majority  of  New  Englanders  of  that  time,  had  pro¬ 
duced  many  fine  results,  but  along  with  these  it  had  the  tendency  to 
narrow  and  harden,  and  almost  exterminate  the  tender  and  compas¬ 
sionate  qualities  of  human  nature.  And  as  the  righteous  wrath  of 
God  was  more  preached  than  His  love,  the  people  cultivated  and  ap¬ 
proved  in  themselves  the  severity  they  worshipped  in  their  Deity. 
“  The  prisoner,  an  outcast  from  the  heart  of  God,  became  equally  an 
outcast  from  the  heart  of  society.  The  little  he  might  be  called  on 
to  suffer  in  the  jail  from  mouldy  bread  and  filthy  water,  from  foul  air 
and  swarming  vermin,  seemed  so  as  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
awful  fate  awaiting  him  in  eternity,  as  scarcely  to  be  worthy  of  con¬ 
sideration.  Nor  was  it  practically  different  with  the  view  taken  of 
the  condition  of  the  actually  insane.  Nay,  in  certain  respects  it  was 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


369 


worse.  The  terrible  superstitions  of  the  middle  ages,  which  had 
always  sought  the  explanation  of  insanity  in  the  idea  of  diabolic  pos¬ 
session,  and  had  seen  in  its  frenzies  of  imprecation,  filthiness  and 
blasphemy  simply  the  masterpiece  of  Satan,  still  hung  like  a  lurid 
cloud  over  the  human  mind.  ’  ’  This  was  the  thought  that  Miss  Dix  met 
and  conquered,  leaving  us  in  its  stead,  as  the  poet  Whittier  gracefully 
wrote  her:  “  Fountains  in  the  desert  of  human  suffering — you,  to  use 
the  Scripture  phrase  have  ‘  passed  over  the  dry  valley  of  Baca,  mak¬ 
ing  it  a  well.’  ” 

She  was  a  philanthropist  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  in  sympathy 
of  thought  and  in  word  and  deed.  She  visited  prisons,  insane 
asylums  and  almshouses  in  almost  every  State  of  the  Union,  seeking 
out  the  suffering,  often  herself  instructing  the  convicts  and  making 
their  existence  in  whatever  way  it  was  possible  more  endurable.  In 
every  way  she  used  her  efforts  to  relieve  the  unfortunate  and 
wretched.  Her  endeavors  forwarded  the  establishment  of  lunatic 
asylums  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  North  Carolina,  and  other 
states,  and  through  her  untiring  perseverance  a  bill  was  passed  by 
Congress  in  1854,  appropriating  10,000,000  acres  of  public  lands  to 
endow  hospitals  for  the  indigent  insane.  This  bill  was  vetoed  by 
President  Pierce.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  when  the  need 
arose  for  women  nurses,  Miss  Dix  was  first  at  the  front.  She  was 
appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  superintendent  of  the  female 
nurses,  a  place  of  influence  and  opportunity  for  a  work,  long  experi¬ 
ence  and  ability  enabled  her  to  use  wisely.  She  held  this  position 
until  the  close  of  the  war  and  then  returned  to  the  work  of  amelior¬ 
ating  the  sufferings  of  the  insane,  a  work  to  which  she  gave  her  heart 
and  mind,  and  every  effort  of  an  industrious,  heroic  life,  a  work  that 
to-day  praises  her  in  the  gates  and  for  which  thousands,  who  do  not 
even  know  her  name,  should  call  her  blessed.  Her  self-sacrifice  and 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  bettering  the  condition  and  lessening  the  suf¬ 
ferings  of  her  fellow-men  should  give  her  a  place  in  history  and  in 
our  hearts  and  memories. 

The  simple  praise  once  written  by  an  Englishwoman  of  her  sovereign 
may  with  truth  and  justice  be  said  of  Dorothea  Dix:  “Wherever 
she  has  stood,  there  has  been  the  standard  of  goodness,  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  honor  and  purity.’’ 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


TWO  WOMEN  WHOM  I  HAVE  KNOWN. 


BY  MRS.  CHARLES  HENROTIN.* 


HERE  is  no  place  more  favorable  to  the  development  of  origi- 


1  nality  than  a  young  and  prosperous  city;  and  the  subsequent 
social  life  of  such  a  city  is  moulded  by  the  strong  and  original  natures 
which  destiny  decrees  shall  be  the  motive  power  of  social  life.  Many 
of  the  Western  cities  have  been  extremely  fortunate  in  the  force  of 
character  and  the  intellectual  ability  of  their  first  settlers,  and  the  two 
women  whom  I  have  known,  influenced  young  and  growing  com¬ 
munities  by  their  intellectuality  and  their  executive  ability. 

These  two  women  are  not  comparable  with  each  other,  Deing  as 
widely  dissimilar  in  tastes,  in  training,  and  in  character,  as  two  human 
beings  can  possibly  be;  both  of  them  died  young,  and  both  died  in 
Chicago. 

The  first,  Mrs.  Kate  Newen  Doggett,  was  an  Eastern  woman,  born 
in  Charlotte,  Vt.,  in  1827.  Her  early  life,  through  no  fault  of  her 
own,  was  a  very  sad  one,  and  in  1855  she  left  the  East  and  came  to 
Chicago,  where  she  had  obtained  a  position  as  teacher  in  the  public 
schools.  The  following  year  she  was  married  to  Mr.  William  E. 
Doggett,  a  wealthy  and  intelligent  merchant  of  that  city,  and  until 
his  death,  in  March  of  1876,  their  life  was  an  ideal  one,  as  they  pos¬ 
sessed  wealth,  health,  and  many  friends.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Doggett 
were  also  peculiarly  suited  to  each  other;  he  was  generous,  brave 
and  patient;  she,  impulsive  and  sympathetic.  In  fact  one  might 
almost  characterize  her  as  possessing  the  “fanaticism  of  sympathy.” 
In  the  full  tide  of  prosperity,  in  the  best  years  of  her  life,  while  love, 
health,  joy  and  wealth  were  hers,  she  opened  her  heart  to  every 

*  Vice  President  Woman's  Branch,  World's  Congress,  Columbian  Exposition. 


9 


i 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


37i 


appeal  for  aid  in  furthering  the  physical,  moral,  and  educational  good 
of  the  world.  No  institution  of  learning,  either  of  art  or  science,  in 
their  young  city,  appealed  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Doggett  in  vain.  Their 
sympathy  was  ever  active,  and  their  purse  open  to  establish  every 
movement  which  tended  to  elevate  Chicago.  Their  hospitality  was 
boundless;  not  only  were  the  favored  of  fortune  bidden  to  enter  their 
home,  but  the  friendless  and  stranger  also. 

Mrs.  Doggett’ s  ambition  as  a  social  leader,  and  she  was  ambitious, 
was  not  to  limit  the  circle  of  our  friends  within  the  smallest  possible 
compass,  but  to  so  extend  it  that  it  should  embrace  everyone  with 
whom  she  had  a  bond  of  sympathy  or  intellectual  companionship; 
and  her  home  was  the  centre  in  which  were  formed  many  intellect¬ 
ual  friendships,  which  have  continued  to  this  day.  The  possession  of 
such  a  social  leader,  was  the  greatest  boon  to  Chicago,  it  prevented 
society  from  crystallizing  into  narrow  conventionality.  Mrs.  Doggett 
was  the  founder  of  the  Chicago  Fortnightly,  a  club  known  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  country.  It  is  said  that  Mrs.  Doggett 
founded  the  Fortnightly  to  further  the  cause  of  suffrage.  Twenty 
years  ago,  that  cause  was  unpopular  and  compromising;  both  men 
and  women  looked  askance  upon  any  movement  which  would  bring 
the  latter  out  of  their  seclusion  into  a  semi-public  position,  while 
women  of  a  certain  social  caste  were  the  first  to  declare  that  they 
had  all  of  the  rights  that  they  desired;  but  Mrs.  Doggett  was  so 
large  brained  and  large  hearted  that  she  saw  outside  of  her  own 
happy  home  down  into  those  of  the  masses,  where  nothing  is 
so  cheap  as  womanhood,  and  many  struggle,  discouraged  and 
weary,  bearing  burdens  not  their  own,  laboring  against  social  and 
legal  inequalities,  and  with  all  the  passion  of  which  her  intense 
nature  was  possessed,  she  threw  herself  into  the  breech  for  her 
sisters,  her  ringing  words  awakening  in  the  hearts  of  many  women 
the  conviction  that  their  own  peaceful  lot  was  the  exception  and  not 
the  rule.  No  woman  fighting  against  her  fate,  ever  went  to  her  in 
vain  for  sympathy  and  assistance. 

Mrs.  Doggett’s  intellectual  attainments  were  in  many  respects 
remarkable;  she  mastered  all  branches  of  study  with  rapidity,  and 
was  also  pre-eminently  endowed  with  the  faculty  of  memory;  her 
vast  and  accurate  knowledge  was  always  available,  thus  rendering 


372 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


her  a  brilliant  conversationalist.  Her  mind  was  better  adapted  to 
science  than  to  any  other  branch  of  knowledge,  and  it  is  greatly  to 
be  regretted,  that  during  her  days  of  health  and  strength,  she  did 
not  edit  her  work  on  the  Flora  of  the  West.  But  in  those  days  she 
was  too  much  absorbed  in  the  practical,  to  give  any  consideration  to 
her  future  literary  reputation.  However  she  found  time  to  translate 
Charles  Blanc’s  Grammar  of  Painting ,  which  has  become  a  stan¬ 
dard  work  in  Art  Literature. 

After  Mr.  Doggett’s  death  she  retired  from  the  world,  and  the 
same  disease  attacked  her  from  which  her  husband  had  died,  con¬ 
sumption.  Mr.  Doggett’s  death  seemed  to  sap  the  life  of  this  bril¬ 
liant  and  apparently  self-poised  woman;  she  literally  never  held  up 
her  head  again,  and  after  having  carried  herself  so  bravely,  she  gave 
up  life  and  all  its  interests.  At  the  time  of  her  death,  the  work  in 
which  she  had  been  specially  engaged  in  connection  with  the  Chicago 
Academy  of  Science  and  the  University  of  Chicago,  appeared  to  have 
come  to  naught.  The  great  fire  had  destroyed  the  collections  of  the 
academy,  many  of  which  had  been  collected  and  catalogued  by  Mrs. 
Doggett  herself.  The  university  had  practically  failed,  and  in  that 
last  hour  of  loneliness,  looking  backward  over  a  busy  life,  she  must 
have  felt  the  bitterness  of  defeat,  but  the  great  ideas  which  she  fos¬ 
tered  and  nourished  are  now  assured  facts;  the  Academy  of  Science 
is  revived,  and  is  to  find  a  permanent  home  in  Lincoln  Park,  while 
the  University  of  Chicago  has  taken  its  place  among  the  higher  insti¬ 
tutions  of  learning  in  the  United  States. 

Mrs.  Doggett  died  in  March,  1884,  leaving  the  world  the  poorer 
in  that  so  valiant  a  soul  had  taken  its  flight  from  among  the  children 
of  men.  The  City  of  Chicago  owes  to  her  a  debt  of  gratitude  which 
it  will  never  pay,  for  her  services  were  of  that  order  which  do  not 
speak  in  massive  buildings  and  great  possessions,  in  a  word,  in  the 
material  splendor  of  achievements,  but  was  rather  the  impulse  given 
to  a  young  and  growing  society,  towards  intellectuality,  spirituality, 
and  liberty,  which  will  make  for  the  city  on  the  lakes  a  name  and 
place. 

MRS.  MARTHA  RITCHIE  SIMPSON. 

Anyone  approaching  to  middle  life,  in  recalling  the  people  they 
have  known,  can  not  but  be  impressed  with  the  small  number  of 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


373 


whom  the  memory  retains  a  vivid  recollection.  Mrs.  Simpson  was 
of  the  rare  class  that  having  once  seen  you  never  forget.  A  tall, 
large  and  stately  woman,  dressed  in  flowing  garments,  invariably 
made  of  one  pattern,  her  hair  brushed  smoothly  on  her  forehead,  as 
was  the  style  twenty  years  ago,  speaking  slowly  and  with  a  beautiful 
voice,  she  has  remained  to  me  the  most  powerful  personality  I  have 
ever  met.  . 

She  was  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Archibald  Richie,  who  early  in  life 
moved  with  his  family  to  California,  and  afterward  went  to  China, 
w'here  the  family  resided  for  several  years.  On  returning  to  Cali¬ 
fornia,  Mr.  Ritchie  established  himself  permanently  in  San  Francisco, 
and  gradually  accumulated  a  large  fortune.  He  was  found  dead  on 
the  road  which  connected  two  of  his  ranches,  evidently  murdered; 
by  whom,  and  for  what  purpose,  will  remain  one  of  the  unsolved 
mysteries  of  which  so  many  cluster  around  the  remarkable  men  who 
first  settled  California. 

At  her  father’s  death,  Mrs.  Simpson  was  just  seventeen  years  of 
age,  and  had  been  the  object  of  his  greatest  care  and  solicitude.  I 
have  seen  letters  which  he  wrote  to  his  wife  before  she  joined  him  in 
China,  in  which  he  urged  her  to  be  especially  careful  in  the  training 
and  education  of  this  brilliant  little  daughter.  He  constantly  spoke 
of  her  in  this  wise,  “  I  foresee  my  dear,  that  Martha  will  be  a  re¬ 
markable  woman.  Under  wise  and  kind  guidance,  she  is  destined 
to  be  a  George  Eliot  or  a  George  Sand  of  this  continent.”  And  he 
was  not  mistaken,  for  this  little  daughter  was  endowed  at  her  birth 
by  the  Fairy  Goddess  of  Intellectuality.  The  great  misfortune  of  her 
life  was  the  death  of  this  wise  and  tender  father,  for  she  possessed  a 
weakness  in  her  character,  which,  to  overcome,  needed  the  spur  of 
constant  guidance;  she  was  fatally  indolent;  utterly  lacking  in  that 
divine  ambition  without  which  no  character  is  complete,  and  no  per¬ 
son  attains  any  great  achievement. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  this  girl  found  herself  a  reigning  belle, 
with  wealth  at  her  command,  and  thrown  into  the  most  original  so¬ 
ciety  which  American  conditions  of  life  have  ever  produced.  She 
loved  people,  was  generous  as  a  queen,  prodigal  of  her  time:  in  a 
word,  she  allowed  people  to  engross  her. 

When  about  twenty-two  years  of  age,  she  was  married  to  Gen. 


374 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Simpson  of  the  United  States  Army,  who  was  ordered  at  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  war  to  Washington,  and  here  during  the  stormy 
days  which  followed  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion  she  was  a  notable 
character.  I  have  often  heard  her  lament  that  lack  of  concentration 
prevented  her  from  keeping  a  diary  during  those  important  four 
years  when  she  resided  in  that  city.  She  knew  everyone,  and  every¬ 
one  knew  her.  She  was  the  centre  of  attraction  wherever  she  ap¬ 
peared.  She  was  brilliant  as  a  conversationalist,  her  wit  being  so 
keen  that  by  a  few  words  she  would  characterize  an  individual  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  characterization  forever  lingered  in  the  mind  of 
her  hearers.  As  she  grew  older,  and  the  fatigue  of  life  overtook  her, 
she  became  very  merciful  in  this  respect,  and  never  directed  her  wit 
against  a  kindly  or  simple  nature.  Wherever  she  went  she  had  de¬ 
voted  friends  and  bitter  enemies,  as  was  inevitable;  her  originality  was 
too  .striking  not  to  rub  against  the  personality  of  others. 

A  little  after  the  war,  General  and  Mrs.  Simpson  returned  to  the 
Pacific  Coast,  and  took  up  their  residence  in  San  Francisco,  where 
Mrs.  Simpson  remained  for  many  years  a  distinct  power  in  that  won¬ 
derful  city.  She  occupied  her  time  in  keeping  up  a  large  circle  of 
friends,  as  advisor  to  men  in  business,  frequently  trading  in  stocks  her¬ 
self,  and  as  the  dispenser  of  royal  hospitality.  She  had  no  faith  in 
charitable  work  as  such,  but  constantly  gave  to  individuals  pecuniary 
assistance,  and  always  her  time  and  attention;  and  no  matter  how 
great  the  sinner,  or  how  grievous  the  sin,  she  never  despaired  of  their 
final  restoration. 

Mrs.  Simpson  was  especially  interested  in  women  and  their  strug¬ 
gles  for  livelihood.  She  was  constantly  thinking  out  new  schemes 
for  placing  women  in  a  position  where  they  would  be  financially  inde¬ 
pendent.  She  originated  more  brilliant  projects  than  any  person 
ever  heard  of,  and  only  her  lack  of  concentration  prevented  her  from 
carrying  them  out. 

About  ten  years  ago,  General  and  Mrs.  Simpson  came  to  Chicago, 
the  former  having  been  ordered  to  that  post;  they  bought  a  place  at 
Winnetka  on  the  lake  shore,  where  gathered  about  them  a  charming 
society.  Her  father’s  prophecy  of  her  when  so  young  that  she  would 
be  the  George  Sand  of  this  country,  was  strangely  prophetic.  The 
latter  days  of  her  life  deepened  her  resemblance  to  that  remarkable 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


375 


French  woman,  for,  like  her,  Mrs.  Simpson  became  enamored  of  the 
country.  It  was  as  if  she  had  discovered  a  new  creation,  and  she  a 
first  discover;  she  became  passionately  devoted  to  her  country 
home;  truly  every  nook  and  corner,  apparently  grateful  for  her  de¬ 
voted  love,  blossomed  into  beauty.  Ingleside,  the  name  of  her  place, 
became  a  proverb  all  along  the  north  shore,  which  she  did  so  much 
to  beautify.  During  the  autumn  months  when  driving  about  through 
the  country,  she  would  take  packages  of  seeds  of  the  hardier  growth, 
and  descending  from  her  carriage,  she,  or  her  son  Alan,  by  whom 
she  was  always  accompanied,  would  plant  the  seeds,  so  that  for  miles 
about  Winnetka  the  woods  and  by-ways  testified  to  her  love. 

This  dear  son,  even  more  richly  endowed  with  genius  than  his 
mother,  survived  her  but  a  year,  being  eighteen  years  old  when  he 
died,  having  just  entered  Harvard. 

The  life  of  these  two  together  was  a  poem;  and  her  absorbing  love 
for  her  son  interfered  with  her  literary  labors,  as  she  threw  her  whole 
heart  and  soul  into  his  education  and  lived  and  breathed  in  his  pres¬ 
ence.  This  son  wrote  to  me  a  few  months  after  his  mother’s  death, 
the  following  letter.  This  boy  was  but  seventeen  at  the  time  of  writ¬ 
ing:  “  In  considering  my  mother’s  character,  I  always  think  of  her 
as  being  first  and  thoroughly  an  individual,  and  after  that  a  well-born 
lady.  These  are  conflicting  characteristics,  with  the  radical  inde¬ 
pendence  of  the  one,  and  the  conservatism  of  the  other,  she  made 
many,  many  mistakes,  but  as  James  says,  ‘  they  were  generous  mis¬ 
takes.’  She  was  very  courageous,  and  when  she  made  a  mistake, 
never  for  an  instant  shirked  the  consequence,  but  bravely  endured 
whatever  her  action  entailed  upon  herself.  I  never  once  heard  her 
give  voice  to  the  slightest  wail,  or  the  least  craving  for  sympathy; 
and  yet  no  one  knew  better  than  I,  of  the  hurts,  the  trials,  the  years 
of  misery  which  she  endured  so  heroically.  I  cannot  tell  you  this  in 
words  strong  enough  to  do  her  justice.  She  has  always  been  won¬ 
derful  to  me,  and  as  I  grow  older,  and  see  clearer  my  surprise  and 
admiration  increase.  There  never  is  a  day  but  what  I  think  of  her 
thousands  of  times,  and  always  with  deepest  love  and  bitterest  regret. 
Had  she  lived  I  might  have  been  the  source  of  happiness  to  her,  and 
yet  at  other  times  I  feel  that  the  quiet  contentment  which  comes  to 
mediocrity,  would  always  have  been  denied  her.  She  would  always 


376 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


have  suffered  from  the  unrest,  the  weariness,  the  yearning  that  comes 
with  genius.  I  feel  that  I  cannot  make  my  meaning  quite  clear,  but 
I  loved  her  so  dearly  that  I  can  form  no  opinion  of  her  character; 
nor  would  I  if  I'could;  she  was  all  and  more  than  enough  to  me,  and 
I  shall  remain  to  my  death,  her  loving  and  loyal  son.” 

Mrs.  Simpson  wrote  some  wonderful  letters,  the  extracts  of  one  or 
two,  which  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  receive  from  her,  I  give  in 
closing.  She  writes  thus  of  a  great  labor  leader  whom  she  met  at 
my  house:  “  It  takes  much  to  thrill  me,  but  I  felt  genuine  emotion 
when  I  listened  to  that  man’s  electric  talk.  I  could  only  think  of 
Prometheus  bound,  a  great  soul  forever  fettered  shines  out  of  those 
eagle  eyes.  His  want  of  training  and  early  education  will  prevent 
him  from  gaining  fame  or  fortune  by  means  of  his  pen.  He  is  now 
too  old  to  educate  himself,  even  were  the  opportunity  afforded  him. 
Some  day  perhaps  we  may  see  a  little  way  into  the  darkness  and 
understand  the  why  and  wherefore  of  much  that  is  now  so  mys¬ 
terious.  I  have  little  so  called  religion,  but  great  curiosity  as  to  the 
method  and  reasoning  of  the  law  that  rules  the  universe. 

‘‘As  we  drove  home  last  evening  through  the  beautiful  night,  the 
planets  and  constellations  were  most  brilliant.  As  I  have  done  a 
hundred  times  before,  I  looked  up  at  the  star  gemmed  arch  above  me, 
and  wondered  not  at  it,  but  why  /  existed.  The  great  North  star 
shone  strong  and  bright,  as  it  did  the  first  night  after  creation;  there 
seemed  such  method  in  it  all,  such  an  eternity  of  argument,  but  I  am 
dumb  and  blind,  not  strong  enough  in  any  perception  to  grasp  the 
slightest  clew  to  this  wonderful  mystery.  I  had  that  man  in  my  mind 
as  a  provoking  cause  of  speculation;  how  curious  that  he,  with  a 
soul  full  of  lofty  aspirations,  noble  impressions  and  sincerity,  should 
be  a  prisoner  in  the  low  places  of  earth,  almost  in  the  very  slough  of 
despond.  But  the  ferment  is  working  as  Carlisle  expressed  it; 

‘  those  who  will  not  see  in  the  light  will  be  forced  to  see  by  the 
lightning.’  Some  day  the  enigmas  of  life  will  be  solved;  you  and  I 
will  not  be  at  the  new  dawn,  but  it  is  coming;  all  the  air  is  full  of 
inarticulate  but  passionate  murmurs,  which  will  settle  into  speech 
most  eloquent  when  the  time  is  ripe  for  men  to  understand.  The 
mountain  of  error  will  vanish,  the  sterile  deserts  of  selfishness  will  be 
inundated  before  that  good  day  is  on  us,  that  will  force  daylight  into 
dark  places.” 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


377 


A  few  weess  before  Mrs.  Simpson’s  death,  in  the  last  letter  I  ever 
received  from  her,  she  thus  wrote: 

“  I  doubt  if  you  know  how  much  genuine  kindness  means  to  me 
just  now,  I  am  not  afraid,  I  am  not  cast  down,  but  I  am  tender  and 
sore,  and  so  helped  by  the  sympathy  of  friends.  No  one  deserves  to 
live  who  is  afraid  to  die,  but  as  death  approaches,  there  comes  also  a 
physical  longing  for  kindness  and  calmness.  That  kindness  which 
says,  ‘  I  am  with  you,  I  can  not  help  you,  but  I  will  walk  at  your 
side,  until  we  come  to  the  very  verge  of  that  dark  river  where  our 
separation  is  inevitable.’  I  know  you  are  with  me,  and  I  thank 
you.” 


WOMEN  IN  PROFESSIONS,  BUSI¬ 
NESS  AND  TRADE. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


WOMEN  IN  PROFESSIONS,  BUSINESS 
AND  TRADE. 


EDITORIAL, 


“So  much  is  clear, 
Though  little  dangers  they  may  fear, 
When  greater  perils  men  environ, 
Then  women  show  a  front  of  iron; 
And,  gentle  in  their  manner,  they 
Do  bold  things  in  a  quiet  way.” 


LL  avenues  of  industry,  professions,  business,  and  trade,  are  now 


1~\  open  to  women.  What  women  have  accomplished  in  the  pro¬ 
fession  of  medicine  is  instructively  presented  by  Dr.  Mary  Putnam 
Jacobi,  and  Mrs.  Ada  M.  Bittenbender  has  traced  the  advance  of 
“Women  in  Law”  with  painstaking  carefulness.  The  profession  of 
American  women  on  the  stage  is  outlined  with  discriminating  appre¬ 
ciation  by  Miss  Lilian  Whiting.  Mrs.  Katharine  Pearson  Woods 
has  sketched  the  “Queens  of  the  Shop,  the  Workroom,  and  the 
Tenement”  with  strong  strokes,  and  the  Marquise  Clara  Lanza  re¬ 
lates  in  an  attractive  manner  many  interesting  facts  regarding  ‘  ‘Women 
Clerks  in  New  York.” 

In  this  department  will  be  found  also  statistics  of  women’s  work  in 
various  lines  of  business  and  trade,  together  with  brief  sketches  of 
noteworthy  examples  of  successful  business  women. 


332 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


WOMEN  IN  MEDICINE. 

BY  MARY  PUTNAM  JACOBI,  M.  D.* 

THE  history  of  the  movement  for  introducing  women  into  the  full 
practice  of  the  medical  profession,  is  one  of  the  most  interest¬ 
ing  of  modern  times.  This  movement  has  already  achieved  much, 
and  far  more  than  is  often  supposed.  Yet  the  interest  lies  even  less 
in  what  has  been  so  far  achieved  than  in  the  opposition  which  has 
been  encountered:  in  the  nature  of  this  opposition,  in  the  pretexts 
on  which  it  has  been  sustained,  and  in  the  reasonings,  more  or  less 
disingenuous,  by  which  it  has  claimed  its  justification.  The  history, 
therefore,  is  a  record  not  more  of  fact  than  opinion.  And  the  opin- 
ipns  expressed  have  often  been  so  grave  and  solid  in  appearance,  yet 
proved  so  frivolous  and  empty  in  view  of  the  subsequent  event,  that 
their  history  is  not  unworthy  careful  consideration  among  that  of 
other  solemn  follies  of  mankind. 

In  Europe  the  admission  of  women  to  the  profession  of  medicine 
has  been  widely  opposed  because  of  disbelief  in  their  intellectual 
capacity.  In  America  it  is  less  often  permitted  to  doubt — out  loud — 
the  intellectual  capacity  of  women.  The  controversy  has  therefore 
been  shifted  to  the  entirely  different  ground  of  decorum. 

At  the  very  outset,  however,  two  rival  decorums  confronted  each 
other.  The  same  centuries  of  tradition  which  had,  officially, 
reserved  the  practice  of  medicine  for  men,  had  assigned  to  women 
the  exclusive  control  of  the  practice  of  midwifery,  which  they  held 
until  late  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  history  of  medical  women  in  the  United  States  may  be 
divided  into  seven  periods,  as  follows: 

First,  the  colonial  period  of  exclusively  female  midwifery. 

Second,  the  period  of  the  Revolution  and  the  years  immediately 
preceding  and  following  it.  During  this  period  male  physicians 
made  rapid  strides  in  advancement,  but  they  harshly  thrust  out  all 
“females,”  even  from  their  work  as  accoucheurs. 

*  Author  of  “  The  Value  of  Life,”  “  Studies  in  Endometritis,”  “  Hysteria,  and  Other  Essays, 
etc.” 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


383 


The  third  period  was  one  of  reaction.  In  1848,  a  Boston  gentle¬ 
man,  Mr.  Samuel  Gregory,  began  to  protest  against  the  innovation 
of  ‘  male  midwives.  ’  ’  The  arguments  then  used  against  the 
intrusion  of  men  into  midwifery  were  similar  to  those  subsequently 
used  against  the  admission  of  women  to  medicine — arguments 
namely  based  upon  ‘  ‘  considerations  of  modesty  and  decency.  ’  ’ 

The  fourth  period  began  in  Boston,  with  the  opening  of  a  School 
of  Medicine  (so  called)  by  Mr.  Gregory,  November  1848.  It 
maintained  a  precarious  existence  until  1874  when  it  was  absorbed 
into  the  medical  department  of  the  Boston  University. 

By  this  time  two  schools  had  been  started  in  Philadelphia.  One, 
the  Penn  Medical  School,  was  soon  extinguished.  The  other,  the 
now  flourishing  Woman’s  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
founded  in  1850.  It  was  during  this  fourth  period  that  the  first 
women  appeared  who  demanded  the  opportunity  to  be  educated  as 
full  physicians. 

These  were  Harriet  K.  Hunt  of  Boston,  to  whom  the  Harvard 
Medical  College  refused  admittance,  Elizabeth  and  Emily  Blackwell 
of  Ohio,  Marie  Zakzrewska  from  Germany,  Ann  Preston,  a  Quaker 
lady  of  Philadelphia,  Sarah  Adamson,  now  Mrs.  Dolly  of  Rochester 
and  Mrs.  Gleason  of  Elmira. 

It  was  by  sheer  force  of  intellect  that  Elizabeth  Blackwell  divined 
for  women  the  suitability  of  an  occupation  whose  practical  details 
were  to  herself  distasteful.  Among  all  the  pioneer  group  of  women 
physicians,  hers  chiefly  deserves  to  be  called  the  record  of  an  heroic 
life. 

She  applied  at  twelve  medical  schools  to  be  admitted  as  a  student, 
and  at  last,  by  a  vote  of  the  students,  she  was  received  at  the  school 
at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  whence  she  graduated  in  1849. 

After  five  years’  study  in  America  and  Europe,  Dr.  Blackwell  set¬ 
tled  in  New  York  and  opened  a  little  dispensary  for  women  and 
children,  which  was  gradually  developed  into  the  New  York  Infirm¬ 
ary.  This  was  chartered  in  1854,  and  thus  preceded  by  a  year  the 
Woman’s  Hospital,  founded  by  Marion  Sims.  The  Blackwells 
founded  the  infirmary  especially  to  secure  for  women  physicians  the 
hospital  facilities  elsewhere  denied  them.  It  was  the  first  institution 
of  the  kind  in  the  world. 


384 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Ann  Preston  worked  to  raise  the  funds  for  establishing  a  medical 
school  for  women  at  Philadelphia.  In  this  school  she  was  early  ap¬ 
pointed  professor  of  physiology. 

Marie  Zakzrewska  served  as  physician  for  a  year  in  the  New  York 
Infirmary;  was  thence  invited  to  lecture  on  midwifery  at  the  Female 
Medical  School  at  Boston;  was  finally  summoned  to  build  up  the 
New  England  Hospital,  which,  for  many  years,  was  almost  identified 
with  her  name. 

Of  the  remaining  typical  members  of  the  pioneer  group  of  women 
physicians,  all  were  married,  either  already  upon  beginning  their 
studies,  or  immediately  after  obtaining  a  diploma  to  practice.  These 
four  were:  Miss  Adamson,  niece  of  Dr.  Hiram  Corson,  and  now  Dr. 
Dolley,  of  Rochester;  Mrs.  Gleason,  the  venerable  chief  of  the  sani¬ 
tarium  at  Elmira;  Mrs.  Thomas,  and  Mrs.  Hannah  Dangshore,  of 
Philadelphia. 

The  married  women  physicians  of  the  West,  with  protection  and 
sympathy  at  home,  and  encountering  abroad  only  a  good-natured 
laxity  of  prejudice,  were  in  a  favored  position  compared  with  their 
colleagues  in  Philadelphia,  Boston  and  New  York. 

In  1859  Elizabeth  Blackwell  estimated  that  about  300  women  had 
managed  to  “graduate  somewhere  in  medicine.’’  But  in  all  the 
schools  where  they  gained  admission,  including  those  founded  especi¬ 
ally  for  them  at  Boston  and  Philadelphia,  the  instruction  was  entirely 
inadequate.  “It  is  not,”  said  Elizabeth  Blackwell  at  this  time, 
“  until  these  students  leave  college,  and  attempt  their  work  alone  and 
unaided,  that  they  realize  how  utterly  insufficient  their  education  is  to 
enable  them  to  acquire  and  support  the  standing  of  a  physician.” 

Thus  this  fourth  period  in  the  history  of  women  physicians,  to 
which  belong  the  early  careers  of  the  pioneers  in  the  movement  must 
nevertheless  be  considered  as  a  sort  of  pre-medical  episode,  anala- 
gous  in  many  respects  to  that  of  the  entire  medical  profession  in 
America  before  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  fifth  period  for  women  physicians  began  with  the  founding  of 
hospitals  where  they  could  obtain  clinical  training.  Between  1857 
and  1882  six  hospitals  for  women  and  conducted  by  women  physi¬ 
cians,  were  established.  These  were,  in  chronological  order,  the  New 
York  Infirmary,  the  Woman’s  Hospital  of  Philadelphia,  the  New 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


385 


England  Hospital  at  Boston,  the  Woman’s  Hospital  at  Chicago,  the 
hospital  for  sick  children  and  women,  San  Francisco,  the  Northwest¬ 
ern  Hospital,  Minneapolis. 

The  foundation  of  these  hospitals  effected  for  women  the  transition 
from  the  pre-medical  period,  when  medical  education  was  something 
attempted  but  not  accomplished,  to  a  truly  medical  epoch,  when 
women  could  really  secure  an  opportunity  to  engage  in  active  medi¬ 
cal  work.  Correlatively,  their  theoretic  education  began  to  improve. 
In  1885,  Lawson  Tait,  the  famous  English  surgeon,  described  the 
Philadelphia  Woman’s  Medicae  as  “being  very  large  and  splendidly 
appointed.”  And  adds,  “  I  am  quite  satisfied  that  its  graduates  are 
quite  as  carefully  trained  as  those  of  any  other  medical  school.  In 
the  United  States  the  practice  of  medicine  by  women  has  become  an 
accomplished  fact.  ’  ’ 

In  1865  the  trustees  of  the  New  York  Infirmary  decided  to  open  a 
medical  college  for  women  in  connection  with  the  hospital,  and  the 
Drs.  Blackwell  presided  over  the  foundation  of  the  new  institution, 
of  which  Dr.  Emily  Blackwell  is  still  Dean. 

In  1890,  woman’s  medical  colleges  are  established  in  Philadelphia, 
the  oldest,  New  York,  Chicago,  and  Baltimore.  Moreover,  women 
are  admitted  to  many  Western  medical  schools,  and  earliest  to  that 
of  the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  where  women  have 
long  been  pupils  in  all  departments.  Besides,  to  the  University  of 
California  and  Cooper  College,  of  San  Francisco,  and  to  the  State 
University  at  Iowa. 

In  the  East,  women  share  in  all  the  privileges  of  the  Boston  Uni¬ 
versity,  but  its  medical  school  is  homeopathic. 

There  is  no  manner  of  doubt  that  co-education  in  medicine  is  essen¬ 
tial  to  the  real  and  permanent  success  of  women  in  medicine.  When 
the  tact,  acuteness,  and  sympathetic  insight  natural  to  women  be¬ 
come  properly  infused  with  the  strength  more  often  found  among 
men,  success  may  be  said  to  be  assured  to  the  medical  candidate. 

It  is  in  view  of  these  considerations  that  in  1890  a  vigorous  effort 
was  made  to  secure  to  women  admission  to  the  medical  school  about 
to  be  opened  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University.  The  permission 
was  granted  in  virtue  of  a  contribution  of  $100, 000  given  by  women 
towards  foundation  funds  of  this  school,  and  of  this  sum  $50,000  was 


386 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


given  by  one  woman,  Miss  Garrett  of  Baltimore,  who  has  since 
promised  to  increase  her  generous  donation  to  $250,000  when  the 
remaining  funds  shall  have  been  raised.  This  however  has  not  been 
done,  and  the  school  has  not  yet  been  opened. 

The  sixth  period  cannot  be  defined  chronologically,  for  in  respect 
to  time,  it  overlaps,  or  indeed  coincides  with  that  of  the  two  which 
have  just  been  described.  It  represents,  however,  a  distinct  aspect 
of  the  movement,  being  the  struggle  on  the  part  of  women  physi¬ 
cians  to  obtain  official  recognition  in  the  profession.  This  became 
the  subject  of  a  prolonged  and  acrimonious  debate  in  all  medical  so¬ 
cieties,  the  cause  of  the  women  being  defended  and  attacked  with 
equal  warmth,  and  by  men  both  distinguished  and  undistinguished. 
It  was  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society  which  first  assumed 
the  responsibility  of  checking  the  innovation  of  female  doctors  and 
woman’s  schools.  In  1859  a  resolution  was  introduced  declaring 
that  any  member  who  should  consult  with  women  should  forfeit  his 
membership.  But  the  Montgomery  County  Medical  Society  passed 
a  resolution  “that  females,  if  properly  educated,  should  receive  the 
same  treatment  as  males.” 

In  the  County  Medical  Society  there  were  many  discussions  of  the 
subject.  Dr.  Lee  summed  up  the  conclusions  in  observing  that  the 
committee  report  and  its  concluding  resolution  might  be  considered 
to  read  about  as  follows:  “Whereas  in  the  opinion  of  this  Society, 
the  female  mind  is  capable  of  reaching  every  stage  of  advancement 
to  which  the  male  mind  is  competent:  and  whereas  all  history 
points  out  examples  in  which  females  have  mastered  every  branch  of 
science,  art  and  literature:  therefore,  be  it  resolved,  that  any  mem¬ 
ber  of  this  Society  who  shall  consult  with  a  female  physician,  shall 
forfeit  his  privileges  as  a  member  of  this  society.”  The  resolution 
stultifies  the  report. 

Nevertheless  the  County  Medical  Society  held  to  its  position,  and 
prohibited  all  consultation  with  women  physicians,  until  1888,  when 
the  grand  controversy  was  finally  ended  by  the  election  of  a  woman 
to  its  membership — Dr.  Mary  Willets. 

As  early  as  1869  the  Drs.  Blackwell  were  accepted  as  members  of 
a  voluntary  “Medical  Library  and  Journal  Society.”  In  1872  a 
paper  was  read  before  this  society  by  a  young  lady,  Dr.  Putnam  who 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


387 


had  just  returned  from  France  with  a  medical  diploma,  the  first  ever 
granted  to  an  American  woman  from  the  Paris  Ecole  de  Medicine. 
This  paper  was  the  first  read  by  a  woman  physician  in  the  United 
States  before  a  medical  society.  In  1873  Dr.  Putnam  was  admitted 
without  discussion  to  the  Medical  Society  of  New  York,  and  from 
this  time  the  question  of  official  “recognition”  of  women  might  be 
regarded  as  settled. 

Another  question  now  came  to  the  front — the  extension  to  women 
of  opportunities  for  study  and  practice  in  great  hospitals,  opportuni¬ 
ties,  absolutely  indispensable  both  to  obtaining  and  maintaining  a 
valid  place  in  medical  practice  and  standing  in  the  medical  profession. 
The  discussion  of  this  question  belongs  to  the  seventh  period  of  the 
history. 

For  this  purpose  the  small  hospitals  conducted  by  women  were 
(and  are)  quite  insufficient.  Efforts  therefore  have  been  constantly 
made  to  secure  the  admission  of  women  as  students,  internes,  or 
visiting  physicians  to  the  great  hospitals. 

Apparently  the  first  general  hospital  in  the  country  to  confer  a 
hospital  appointment  on  a  woman,  was  the  Mt.  Sinai  Hospital  of 
New  York.  Here  in  1874,  Dr.  Annie  Angell  was  made  one  of  the 
resident  physicians.  In  1884  Dr.  Josephine  Walter  was  admitted  as 
interne. 

Since  her  appointment  none  others  have  been  made.  Even  in  the 
Woman’s  Hospital,  with  exclusively  female  patients,  and  a  host  of 
female  nurses,  the  medical  staff  have  repeatedly  expressed  their 
formal  opposition  to  the  admission  of  female  internes. 

In  1882  a  school  was  opened  for  post-graduate  instruction  in  New 
York,  and  one  woman  physician  was  invited  to  a  place  in  its  faculty, 
and  several  others  became  instructors  to  classes  of  young  men. 

More  than  twenty  women  are  now  serving  as  physicians  in  insane 
asylums. 

The  census  of  1880  records  about  2,500  women  practitioners 
throughout  the  United  States.  In  the  census  for  1890  this  number 
will  certainly  be  much  increased. 

It  is  evident  from  the  records  that  the  opposition  to  women  physi¬ 
cians  has  rarely  been  based  upon  any  sincere  conviction  that  women 
could  not  be  instructed  in  medicine,  but  upon  an  intense  dislike  to 


388 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


the  idea  that  they  should  be  so  capable.  Apart  from  the  absurd  fear 
of  pecuniary  injury  to  the  men  physicians  already  in  practice,  the 
arguments  advanced  have  always  been  purely  sentimental. 

What  women  have  learned  in  medicine  they  have  in  the  main 
taught  themselves.  And  it  is  fair  to  claim  that,  when  they  have 
taught  themselves  so  much,  when  they  have  secured  the  confidence 
of  so  many  thousand  sick  persons  in  spite  of  all  opposition;  when 
such  numbers  have  been  able  to  establish  reputable  and  lucrative 
practice — to  do  all  this,  shows  a  quite  unexpected  amount  of  ability 
and  medical  fitness  on  the  part  of  women. 

It  could  be  wished  that  space  remained  to  bring  to  light  the  ob¬ 
scure  heroisms  of  the  many  nameless  lives  which  have  been  expended 
in  this  one  crusade  for  liberty  and  equality.  It  has  been  fought,  and 
modestly,  in  the  teeth  of  the  most  painful  invective,  that  of  immod¬ 
esty.  Girls  have  been  hissed  and  stampeded  out  of  hospital  wards 
and  amphitheaters  where  the  suffering  patient  was  a  woman,  and 
properly  claiming  the  presence  of  members  of  her  own  sex;  or  where, 
still  more  inconsistently,  non-medical  female  nurses  were  tolerated 
and  welcomed.  Women  students  have  been  cheated  of  their  time 
and  money  by  those  paid  to  instruct  them;  they  have  been  led  into 
the  fields  of  promise  to  find  only  a  vanishing  mirage.  At  what  sac¬ 
rifices  have  they  struggled  to  obtain  the  elusive  prize! 

The  change  from  the  forlorn  conditions  of  the  early  days  has  been 
most  rapid,  and  those  who  survived  the  early  struggle,  and  whose 
energies  were  not  so  absorbed  by  its  external  difficulties  that  not 
enough  were  left  for  the  intrinsic  difficulties  of  medicine,  have  been 
really  invigorated  by  the  contest.  Indeed  one  of  the  ways  in  which 
women  have  secured  the  infusion  of  masculine  strength  essential  to 
their  success,  has  been  by  successfully  resisting  masculine  opposition 
to  their  just  claims.  The  character  and  self-reliance  natural  to  Amer¬ 
ican  women  have  thus  been  re-enforced  even  by  the  adverse  circum¬ 
stances  of  their  position. 

The  intellectual  fruitfulness  of  this  period  is  not  to  be  compared 
with  that  exhibited  by  other  and  contemporary  classes  of  medical 
workers,  but  rather  with  that  of  the  first  150  or  200  years  of  Ameri¬ 
can  medicine.  For,  until  now,  it  is  a  mentally  isolated,  a  truely 
colonial  position,  which  has  been  occupied  by  the  women  physicians 


My  Son 


I  have  a  little  child — a  son. 

And  I  raagine  he 

Is  something  like  the  little  boy 
Christ  used  to  be. 

He  waits  on  me  so  lovingly 

With  earnest  eyes  and  sweet; 

So  willing  and  so  eager  are 
His  hands  and  feet. 

I  think  the  little  Lord  was  glad 
To  serve  his  mother  so. 

And  down  the  streets  of  Nazareth 
On  errands  go. 

And  when  ray  son  has  grown  a  man 
Of  strength  and  courtesy. 

Oh  Jesus,  may  he  then  as  now 
Resemble  Thee. 


388 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


the  idea  that  they  should  be  so  capable.  Apart  from  the  absurd  fear 
of  pecuniary  injury  to  the  men  physicians  already  in  practice,  the 
arguments  advanced  have  always  been  purely  sentimental. 

What  women  have  learned  in  medicine  they  have  in  the  main 
taught  themselves.  And  it  is  fair  to  claim  that,  when  they  have 
taught  themselves  so  much,  when  they  have  secured  the  confidence 
of  so  many  thousand  sick  persons  in  spite  of  all  opposition;  when 
such  numbers  have  been  able  to  establish  reputable  and  lucrative 
practice — to  do  all  this,  shows  a  quite  unexpected  amount  of  ability 
and  medical  fitness  on  the  part  of  women. 

It  could  be  wished  that  space  remained  to  bring  to  light  the  ob¬ 
scure  heroisms  of  the  many  nameless  lives  which  have  been  expended 
in  this  one  crusade  for  liberty  and  equality.  It  has  been  fought,  and 
modestly,  in  the  teeth  of  the  most  painful  invective,  that  of  immod¬ 
esty.  Girls  have  been  hissed  and  stampeded  out  of  hospital  wards 
and  amphitheaters  where  the  suffering  patient  was  a  woman,  and 
properly  claiming  the  presence  of  members  of  her  own  sex;  or  where, 
still  more  inconsistently,  non-medical  female  nurses  were  tolerated 
and  welcomed.  Women  students  have  been  cheated  of  their  time 
and  money  by  those  paid  to  instruct  them;  they  have  been  led  into 
the  fields  of  promise  to  find  only  a  vanishing  mirage.  At  what  sac¬ 
rifices  have  they  struggled  to  obtain  the  elusive  prize! 

The  change  from  the  forlorn  conditions  of  the  early  days  has  been 
most  rapid,  and  those  who  survived  the  early  struggle,  and  whose 
energies  were  not  so  absorbed  by  its  external  difficulties  that  not 
enough  were  left  for  the  intrinsic  difficulties  of  medicine,  have  been 
really  invigorated  by  the  contest.  Indeed  one  of  the  ways  in  which 
women  have  secured  the  infusion  of  masculine  strength  essential  to 
their  success,  has  been  by  successfully  resisting  masculine  opposition 
to  their  just  claims.  The  character  and  self-reliance  natural  to  Amer¬ 
ican  women  have  thus  been  re-enforced  even  by  the  adverse  circum¬ 
stances  of  their  position. 

The  intellectual  fruitfulness  of  this  period  is  not  to  be  compared 
with  that  exhibited  by  other  and  contemporary  classes  of  medical 
workers,  but  rather  with  that  of  the  first  150  or  200  years  of  Ameri¬ 
can  medicine.  For,  until  now,  it  is  a  mentally  isolated,  a  truely 
colonial  position,  which  has  been  occupied  by  the  women  physicians 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


389 


of  America.  When  a  century  shall  have  elapsed  after  general  intel¬ 
lectual  education  has  become  diffused  among  women;  after  two  or 
three  generations  have  had  increased  opportunities  for  inheritance  of 
trained  intellectual  aptitudes;  after  the  work  of  establishing,  in  the 
face  of  resolute  opposition,  the  right  to  privileged  work  in  addition 
to  the  drudgeries  imposed  by  necessity,  shall  have  ceased  to  pre¬ 
occupy  the  energies  of  women;  after  selfish  monopolies  of  privilege 
and  advantage  shall  have  broken  down;  after  the  rights  and  capacities 
of  women  as  individuals  shall  have  received  thorough,  serious,  and 
practical  social  recognition;  when  all  these  changes  shall  have  been 
effected  for  about  a  hundred  years,  it  will  then  be  possible  to  per¬ 
ceive  results  from  the  admission  of  women  to  the  profession  of  medi¬ 
cine,  at  least  as  widespread  as  those  now  obviously  due  to  their 
admission  to  the  profession  of  teaching. 


CHAPTER  XL 


WOMEN  IN  LAW. 


BY  ADA  M.  BITTENBENDER.* 


BOUT  the  twelfth  century  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  “  Deborah, 


r\  a  prophetess,  the  wife  of  Lapidoth,  she  judged  Israel.” 
(Jydges  IV.  4.)  11  She  dwelt  in  Mount  Ephraim,  and  the  children 

of  Israel  came  up  to  her  for  judgment.”  It  was  at  the  time  the 
Israelites  were  in  ‘‘the  hand  of  Jabin,  King  of  Canaan,”  by  whom 
they  were  for  ‘ ‘  twenty  years  mightily  oppressed,”  and  from  whom 
the  Lord  delivered  them  through  Deborah  as  prophetess;  afterwards 
her  term  of  office  as  judge  continued  the  “  forty  years  the  land  had 
rest.”  (Judges  ii.  18;  V.  31.) 

After  the  days  of  Deborah,  ancient  history  records  the  names  of 
women  distinguished  for  their  legal  learning,  some  of  whom  acted  as 
judges,  advocates  and  in  other  judicial  capacities. 

The  middle  ages  and  since  furnish  many  cases  of  women  of  royal 
birth  acting  officially  in  the  administration  of  justice.  We  mention 
Eleanor,  Queen  of  Henry  III.,  who  was  appointed  Regent  of  England 
and  Lady  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal.  She  took  her  seat  on  the 
King’s  bench  in  1253;  ‘‘and  we  find  that  the  pleas  were  holden 
before  her  and  the  King’s  Council,  in  the  court  of  exchequer,  during 
Henry’s  absence  in  Gascony.  ‘At  this  time,’  says  Madox,  ‘the 
queen  was  custos  regni,  and  sat  vice  regis.'  We  have  thus  an  in¬ 
stance  of  a  queen-consort  performing  not  only  the  functions  of  a 
sovereign,  in  the  absence  of  the  monarch,  but  acting  as  a  judge  in 
the  highest  court  of  judicature,  curia  regis."  (r  Agnes  Strickland’s 

*  Superintendent,  Department  of  Legislation  and  Petitions,  National  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


39r 


Lives  of  the  Queens  of  England,  261.)  “Ann,  the  celebrated  count¬ 
ess  of  Pembroke,  Dorset  and  Montgomery,  had  the  office  of  heredit¬ 
ary  sheriff  of  Westmoreland,  and  exercised  it  in  person.  At  the 
assizes  at  Appleby,  she  sat  with  the  judges  on  the  bench.”  (Coke 
upon  Littleton,  2  B  &  H’s  Notes,  326.  “The  Scotch  sheriff  is 
properly  a  judge.”  1  Chitty’s  Blackstone,  340  noted)  French 
history  furnishes  many  instances  of  women  “personally  presiding  in 
their  own  courts,  even  over  judicial  combats;  of  their  being  summoned 
to,  and  sitting  in,  the  court  of  peers.  Thus  Mahant,  the  Countess 
of  Artois,  assisted  at  the  trial  of  Robert  of  Flanders.  ’  ’  (Coke  upon 
Littleton,  2  B.  &  H’s  Notes,  326.) 

Women  of  ancient  Greece  and  Italy  are  distinctly  renowned  as 
learned  in  law,  women  of  Italy  becoming  especially  famous  as 
advocates  and  teachers  of  jurisprudence,  the  latter  in  connection 
with  the  great  co-educational  University  of  Bologna — that  oldest 
university  in  Italy,  said  to  have  been  founded  in  A.  D.  425,  which 
“  was  the  principal  seat  of  learning  in  the  middle  ages,”  and  which 
‘  ‘  acquired  special  renown  in  jurisprudence  in  the  twelfth  century  by 
the  influence  of  Irnerius.”  The  fame  of  “his  erudition  and  the 
splendor  of  his  eloquence  attracted  the  attention  of  all  learned 
Europe,  and  crowds  of  students  flocked  to  hear  the  great  juriscon¬ 
sult  and  to  learn  of  him.  .  .  .  Women  were  quickened  to  new  life 
in  this  studious  and  literary  atmosphere.  .  .  .  The  public  examin¬ 
ation  took  place  in  the  cathedral,  before  the  dignitaries,  the  college 
of  doctors,  the  students,  the  ecclesiastics  and  the  principal  inhab¬ 
itants  of  Bologna.  The  aspirant  for  the  degree,  before  this  notable 
assembly,  was  called  upon  to  read  a  thesis,  expound  some  knotty 
law  point  and  maintain  and  defend  his  or  her  explanation  of  it, 
against  all  disputants.  If  victorious  in  the  contest,  the  degree  of 
doctor,  with  the  cap  and  gown,  was  won  and  duly  awarded.  The 
records  of  the  University  show  that  many  women  won  this  degree 
and  were  invested  with  its  insignia.”  (Mary  A.  Livermore’s 
Learned  Women  of  Bolognad)  The  historian  Sigonio  states  that 
Bettisia  Gozzadini  was  created  Doctor  of  Laws  in  1239  and  in  the 
same  year  commenced  her  public  lectures  to  the  admiration  of 
crowded  audiences.  Ghirardacci,  in  his  history  of  Bologna,  tells  us 
that  she  wrote  on  philosophy,  law  and  jurisprudence.  She  continued 


392 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


to  fill  the  professional  chair  until  her  death  in  1249.  “Mention 
is  made  by  several  writers,”  says  Livermore,  “  of  a  very  learned 
woman,  who  was  also  invested  with  the  doctor’s  degree  and  wore 
the  cap  and  gown,  and  w'ho  was  a  ‘venerable  woman’  in  1354, 
Madonna  Giovanna  Buonsigniori  by  name.  She  was  skilled  in  legal 
and  philosophical  lore,  was  accomplished  in  Latin  and  Greek,  and 
discoursed  in  the  German,  Bohemian,  Tuscan  and  Polish  languages. 
The  people  of  Bologna  honor  her  name  to  this  day.” 

The  right  of  Roman  women  to  follow  the  profession  of  advocate 
was  taken  away  in  consequence  of  the  obnoxious  conduct  of  Cal- 
phurnia,  who,  “from  excess  of  boldness,”  and  “by  reason  of  mak¬ 
ing  the  tribunals  resound  with  howlings  uncommon  in  the  forum,” 
was  forbidden  to  plead  (Velerius  Maximus,  Hist.,  lib.  viii.  ch.  iii). 
The  law,  made  to  meet  the  especial  case  of  Calphurnia,  ultimately, 
“ under  the  influence  of  anti-feministic  tendencies,”  was  converted 
into  a  general  one  (Lex.  I,  Sec.  5,  Dig.  iii  1). 

This  exclusion  furnished  a  precedent  for  other  nations  which,  in 
the  course  of  time,  was  followed.  Speaking  on  this  point,  Louis 
Frank,  L.L.  D. ,  in  a  valuable  pamphlet  entitled  “  La  Femme  Avo- 
cat,”  translated  by  Mary  A.  Greene,  L.L.  B.,  says:  “  Without  tak¬ 
ing  time  to  discuss  the  rudimentary  law  of  the  ancient  German 
Colonies,  we  recall  only  that  institution  of  Germanic  origin,  the  vogt 
or  advocatus,  whose  care  it  was  to  represent  every  woman  at  the 
court  of  the  suzerain,  in  judicial  acts  and  debates.  .  .  .  The  ancient 
precedents  were  conceived  and  established  in  a  spirit  which  was  ex¬ 
tremely  favorable  to  woman.  There  is  not  a  trace  in  them  of  the 
privileges  of  masculinity.  They  allowed  woman  to  be  a  witness,  a 
surety,  an  attorney,  a  judge,  an  arbitrator.  Later,  under  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  canon  law,  and  in  the  early  renaissance  of  juridical  study, 
under  the  action  of  the  schools  of  Roman  law,  a  reaction  made  itself 
felt  against  the  rights  of  women,  and  the  old  disabilities  of  Roman 
legislation  became  a  part  of  the  legal  institutions.” 

Further  on  Dr.  Frank  says:  “The  forwardness  of  Calphurnia  ap¬ 
peared  to  ancient  jurists  a  peremptory  reason  for  excluding  women 
from  the  forum.” 

From  among  his  citations  to  prove  this  assertion  we  extract  the 
following: 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


393 


“  Boutillier  tells  us  that  a  woman  could  not  hold  the  office  of 
attorney  or  of  advocate.  ‘  For  know  that  a  woman,  in  whatever 
state  she  may  be,  married  or  unmarried,  cannot  be  received  as  pro¬ 
curator  for  any  person  whatever.  For  she  was  forbidden  (to  do) 
any  act  of  procuration  because  of  Calphurnia,  who  considered  herself 
wiser  than  any  one  else;  she  could  not  restrain  herself,  and  was  con¬ 
tinually  running  to  the  judge  without  respect  for  formalities,  in  order 
to  influence  him  against  his  opinion.’  (Somme  Rural,  Edit.  Mace, 
Paris,  1603,  L.  I.,  tit.  x.,  p.  45.)  In  Germany  as  in  France,  the  ex¬ 
clusion  of  woman  was  justified  upon  the  same  grounds.  ‘  No 
woman,’  says  the  Miroir  de  Sonabe,  1  can  be  guardian  of  herself  nor 
plead  in  court,  nor  do  it  for  another,  nor  make  complaint  against 
another  without  an  advocate.  They  lost  this  through  a  gentle¬ 
woman  named  Carfurna,  who  behaved  foolishly  in  Rome  before  the 
ruler.’  ”  (Miroir  de  Sonabe,  T.  ii. ,  ch.  xxiv.,  Lassberg,  245.) 

The  judicial  influence  against  women  acting  as  advocates,  or  bar¬ 
risters,  the  latter  being  the  term  used  to  designate  the  office  in  En¬ 
gland,  wherever  exerted,  has  continued  to  affect  women  nearly  if  not 
entirely  to  the  present  time  outside  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

In  England  women  are  still  denied  the  full  privileges  of  the  profes¬ 
sion  unless  very  recently  granted.  If  not  affected  by  the  Calphurnian 
decree,  their  ineligibility  to  become  barristers  and  exercise  the  right 
of  that  rank  in  the  prosecution  of  their  cases,  is  due  to  their  being 
denied  admission  to  the  Inns  of  Court,  where  barristers  are  trained 
and  ranked. 

The  common  law  of  England  becoming  the  law  of  this  country, 
American  women  were  thought  ineligible  to  admission  to  the  bar, 
and  but  one  woman,  so  far  as  we  know,  attempted  to  test  the  matter 
until  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  This  exception  was  a 
notable  one  in  colonial  days.  It  was  the  case  of  Margaret  Brent,  of 
Maryland,  who,  on  the  death  of  the  Governor,  Leonard  Calvert,  in 
1647,  succeeded  him  as  attorney  for  Cecilius  Calvert,  the  Lord  Pro¬ 
prietary.  Her  right  to  act  in  this  capacity  was  questioned  in  the 
provincial  court.  The  court  in  January,  1648,  ordered  that  she 
“  should  be  received  as  his  lordship’s  attorney.”  The  records  show 
that  she  not  only  frequently  appeared  in  court  as  his  lordship’s 
attorney,  in  which  capacity  she  continued  to  act  for  some  years,  but 


394 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


also  in  prosecuting  and  defending  causes  as  attorney  for  her  brother 
Capt.  Giles  Brent,  and  as  executrix  of  Leonard  Calvert’s  estate,  and 
in  regard  to  her  personal  affairs.  There  is  no  record  of  any  objec¬ 
tion  being  made  to  her  practicing  as  attorney  on  account  of  her  sex. 
At  that  time  the  provincial  court  was  the  chief  judicial  body  in 
Maryland.  (Four  Archives  of  Maryland.) 

The  first  record  we  have  found  of  a  woman  practicing  law  in 
America  since  the  days  of  Mistress  Brent,  is  the  following,  which  ap¬ 
peared  February  27,  1869,  in  the  Chicago  Legal  News-.  “Iowa 
has  one  female  lawyer.  In  North  English,  Iowa  county,  there  may 
be  seen,  in  front  of  a  neat  office,  a  sign  with  the  following  inscription 
in  gilt  letters:  ‘  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Magoon,  Attorney  at  Law.’  We 
understand  that  Mrs.  Magoon  is  having  a  good  practice  and  is  very 
successful  as  a  jury  lawyer.” 

The  next  record  is  that  of  Arabella  A.  Mansfield,  who  is  usually 
reported  as  America’s  first  woman  lawyer.  She  studied  in  a  law  of¬ 
fice  and  was  admitted  to  the  Iowa  bar  at  Mount  Pleasant,  in  June, 
1869,  under  a  statute  providing  for  admission  of  “  white  male  per¬ 
sons.”  This  was  construed  in  connection  with  another  statute  pro¬ 
viding  that  “words  importing  the  masculine  gender  only  may  be 
extended  to  females.”  Her  husband,  Prof.  J.  M.  Mansfield,  was  also 
admitted  at  the  same  time. 

The  next  to  make  application  for  license  to  practice  law  was  Myra 
Bradwell,  of  Chicago.  She  studied  under  the  instruction  of  her  hus¬ 
band,  Judge  James  B.  Bradwell,  and  applied  at  the  September  term, 
1869,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  presenting  all  the  papers  re¬ 
quired  by  the  rules  of  that  tribunal.  Her  application  was  refused  on 
the  ground  that  the  applicant  was  a  woman.  She  carried  the  case 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  “believing  that  liberty 
of  pursuit  was  guaranteed  to  every  citizen  by  the  Fourteenth  Amend¬ 
ment;  under  laws  which  should  operate  equally  upon  all.”  The 
Federal  affirmed  the  judgment  of  the  State  Court  in  April,  1873. 

The  adverse  decisions  in  Mrs.  Bradwell’ s  case  were  destined  to  be 
used  as  precedents  to  debar  other  women.  Ada  H.  Kepley  gradu¬ 
ated  from  the  Northwestern  University  Law  School  (formerly  known 
as  the  Union  College  of  Law),  June  30,  1870.  “  Previous  to  the 

commencement  exercises,”  says  the  Chicago  Legal  News ,  “there 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


395 


was  some  question  with  the  college  authorities  as  to  the  proper  word¬ 
ing  of  the  degree  to  be  conferred  upon  Mrs.  Kepley.”  (Hers  was 
the  first  instance  of  a  woman  graduating  from  an  American  Law 
School.)  “  It  was  stated  that  it  could  not  be  Maid  of  Laws,  as  she 
was  possessed  of  a  ‘  married  disability  ’  in  the  shape  of  a  husband.  ’  ’ 
Who  ever  "heard  of  a  married  man  being  thought  not  competent  to 
receive  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  ?  However,  when  the  time 
came,  the  degree  L.L.  B.  was  duly  conferred,  and  with  her  certificate 
of  examination  Mrs.  Kepley  accompanied  other  members  of  the  class 
to  the  proper  officer,  ‘  ‘  and  like  them  asked  for  the  required  certifi¬ 
cate  to  present  to  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a 
license  to  practice  law.”  The  gentlemen  received  this,  but  Mrs. 
Kepley  was  refused  on  the  sole  ground  of  sex,  the  decisions  in  the 
Bradwell  case  being  used  against  her. 

The  Supreme  Court,  in  November,  1871,  also  decided  against  the 
admission  of  Alta  M.  Hulett,  who,  on  examination,  had  ‘‘answered 
questions  much  more  readily  than  the  four  gentlemen  examined  with 
her,  and  promptly  admitted.” 

The  obnoxious  law  was  repealed  in  March,  1872,  by  an  act  pro¬ 
viding  that  ‘  ‘  no  person  shall  be  precluded  or  debarred  from  any 
occupation,  profession  or  employment  (except  military)  on  account 
of  sex.” 

Under  this  act  Miss  Hulett,  who  had  prepared  the  bill  and  lectured 
in  its  interest  during  its  pendency,  after  re-examination,  was  duly 
licensed  on  her  nineteenth  birthday.  Mrs.  Kepley  was  also  duly 
licensed.  Mrs.  Bradwell,  having  founded  the  Chicago  Legal  News 
in  1868,  which  she  was  ably  editing,  she  did  not  see  fit  to  present 
herself  again  for  license.  So,  in  the  spring  of  1890,  after  a  lapse  of 
over  twenty  years,  upon  the  original  record,  ‘‘every  member  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Illinois  cordially  acquiesced  in  granting,  on  the 
court’s  own  motion,  a  license  as  an  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law  to 
Mrs.  Bradwell.” 

Belva  A.  Lockwood,  upon  graduating  from  the  law  school  of  the 
National  University,  in  1873,  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  but  was  denied  admission  to  the 
Court  of  Claims,  where  she  appeared  for  a  client  in  1874.  The  latter 
court  assumed  the  position  ‘  ‘  that  under  the  laws  and  constitution  of 


396 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


the  United  States  a  court  is  without  power  to  grant  such  application, 
and  that  a  woman  is  without  legal  capacity  to  take  the  office  of  at¬ 
torney.”  In  1876  she  was  also  denied  admission  to  practice  before 
the  Federal  Supreme  Court,  it  being  held  that:  “  By  the  uniform 
practice  of  the  Court  from  its  organization  to  the  present  time,  and 
by  the  fair  construction  of  its  rules,  none  but  men  are  admitted  to 
practice  before  it  as  attorneys  and  counsellors.  This  is  in  accordance 
with  immemorial  usage  in  England,  and  the  law  and  practice  in  all 
the  States,  until  within  a  recent  period;  and  the  Court  does  not  feel 
called  upon  to  make  a  change  until  such  a  change  is  required  by 
statute,  or  a  more  extended  practice  in  the  highest  courts  of  the 
States.”  Upon  this  refusal,  Mrs.  Lockwood  went  to  work  to  secure 
the  necessary  statute,  which  was  enacted  in  1879,  and  provides: 
“  That  any  woman  who  shall  have  been  a  member  of  the  bar  of  the 
highest  court  of  any  State  or  Territory,  or  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  for  the  space  of  three  years,  and  shall  have 
maintained  a  good  standing  before  such  court,  and  who  shall  be  a 
person  of  good  moral  character,  shall,  on  motion  and  the  production 
of  such  record,  be  admitted  to  practice  before  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States.”  She  was  duly  admitted  under  it,  and  soon  af¬ 
terwards  received  word  from  the  Court  of  Claims  that  she  could  now 
practice  before  that  tribunal.  Mrs.  Lockwood  was  also  denied  the 
right  to  appear  for  a  client  in  the  Circuit  Court  for  Prince  George’s 
County,  Maryland,  in  1878,  under  the  rule  of  coinity. 

There  were  several  other  contested  cases,  among  which  we 
mention:  Lavinia  Goodell,  of  Janesville,  Wis.,  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Rock  county,  in  1874,  but  the  next  year 
was  denied  the  right  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court.  She  re¬ 
viewed  the  decision  in  a  masterly  argument  and  continued  practicing 
in  the  lower  court  until  a  statute  was  enacted,  in  1877,  which  she 
prepared  and  urged,  prohibiting  the  denial  of  ‘‘admission  or  license 
to  practice  as  an  attorney  in  any  court  in  this  State  on  account  of 
sex.”  Martha  A.  Dorsett,  L.  L.  B.,  sought  admission  to  practice 
in  the  Common  Pleas  Court  of  Hennepin  county,  Minn.,  in  1876. 
Her  application  was  refused,  the  word  ‘‘male”  appearing  in  the 
statute,  the  judge  holding  it  ‘‘an  implied  inhibition  against  the  ad¬ 
mission  of  females,”  while  “admitting  in  his  private  relation,”  says 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


397 


the  Minneapolis  Tribune,  “  that  the  lady  passed  the  highest  examin¬ 
ation  of  any  applicant  for  admission  that  has  been  presented  for  a 
long  time.”  Lelia  J.  Robinson,  who  had  graduated  from  the  Boston 
University  Law  School,  was  refused  admission  in  1881,  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  holding  that  under  the  laws  of  Massachusetts  ‘‘an 
unmarried  woman  is  not  entitled  to  be  examined  for  admission  as  an 
attorney  and  counsellor  of  this  court.”  Mary  Hall,  of  Hartford, 
Conn.,  applied,  in  1882,  to  the  Superior  Court  in  Hartford  county 
for  a  license  to  practice  law.  The  court  reserved  the  application  for 
the  advice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  latter  court,  contrary  to  the 
decisions  cited,  which  were  urged  and  considered,  decided  favorably, 
saying:  ‘‘If  we  hold  that  the  construction'  of  the  statute  is  to  be 
determined  by  the  admitted  fact  that  its  application  to  women  was 
not  in  the  minds  of  the  legislators  when  it  was  passed,  where  shall  we 
draw  the  line  ?  All  progress  in  social  matters  is  gradual.  We  pass 
almost  imperceptibly  from  a  state  of  public  opinion  that  utterly  con¬ 
demns  some  course  of  action  to  one  that  strongly  approves  it.  At 
what  point  in  the  history  of  this  change  shall  we  regard  a  statute, 
the  construction  of  which  is  to  be  affected  by  it,  as  passed  in  con¬ 
templation  of  it.  *  *  *  This  statute  was  not  passed  for  the  purpose 
of  benefiting  men  as  distinguished  from  women.  It  grew  out  of  no 
exigency  caused  by  the  relations  of  the  sexes.  Its  object  was  wholly 
to  secure  the  orderly  trial  of  causes  and  the  better  administration  of 
justice.  *  *  *  Public  interest  is  benefited  by  every  legitimate  use  of 
individual  ability,  while  mere  justice,  which  is  of  interest  to  all,  re- 
.  quires  that  all  have  the  fullest  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  their 
abilities.  ’  ’ 

In  most  of  the  cases  the  fair  applicants  prepared  and  filed  briefs 
containing  exhaustive  arguments  in  support  of  their  applications. 
On  being  refused,  they  immediately  took  steps  for  securing  the  en¬ 
abling  statutes,  which,  with  two  exceptions,  were  promptly  passed. 

One  exception  is  found  in  the  case  of  Carrie  Burnham  Kilgore. 
In  speaking  of  her  twelve  years’  struggle  for  admission,  Ellen  A. 
Martin,  L.  L.  B.,  in  an  article  on  “Admission  of  Women  to  the  Bar,” 
published  in  the  Chicago  Law  Times  of  1886,  says:  “  In  December, 
1874,  Carrie  Burnham  (now  Kilgore)  of  Philadelphia,  began  the 
long  and  tedious  warfare  that  she  has  been  obliged  to  wage  for 


398 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


admission  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Board  of  Examiners  refused  to  ex¬ 
amine  her  because  there  was  ‘  no  precedent  for  the  admission  of  a 
woman  to  the  Bar  of  this  county,  ’  and  the  court  refused  to  grant  a 
rule  on  the  board  requiring  them  to  examine  her.  Mrs.  Kilgore 
then  tried  to  have  a  law  passed  forbidding  exclusion  on  account  of 
sex,  but  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate  took  the  position 
that  the  law  as  it  stood  was  broad  enough,  and  so  it  would  seem  to 
be.  The  act  of  1834  declares:  *  The  judges  of  the  several  Courts  of 
Record  in  the  commonwealth  shall  respectively  have  power  to  admit 
a  competent  number  of  persons  of  any  honest  disposition  and  learned 
in  the  law,  to  practice  as  attorneys  in  their  respective  courts.’  The 
Senate  finally  passed  the  clause  desired  at  two  or  three  sessions,  but 
it  was  never  reached  in  the  House.  Finally  Mrs.  Kilgore  gained 
admission  to  the  Law  School  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
1 88 1,  where  she  had  previously  been  denied,  and  by  virtue  of  her 
diploma  from  there  in  1883,  was  admitted  to  the  Orphans’  Court  of 
Philadelphia.  She  was  then  admitted  to  one  of  the  Common  Pleas 
Courts,  but  denied  admission  to  the  other  three,  though  it  is  the 
custom  when  a  person  has  been  admitted  to  one,  to  admit  to  the  rest 
as  a  matter  of  course.  As  soon  after  admission  to  the  Common 
Pleas  Court  as  the  law  allows,  two  years,  Airs.  Kilgore  applied  and 
was  admitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.”  By  virtue  of  this 
admission,  all  the  lower  courts  were  compelled  to  admit  her. 

The  other  exception  to  the  usual  legislative  promptness  is  found  in 
the  case  of  Annie  Smith,  then  of  Danville,  now  of  Richmond,  Va. 
The  Judge  of  the  Corporation  Court  at  Danville  to  whom  she 
applied  in  1889  for  a  certificate  to  enable  her  to  be  examined, 
refused  it  on  the  ground  that  for  a  woman  to  obtain  license  the 
present  statute  would  have  to  be  amended.  Mrs.  Smith,  aided  by 
her  husband,  an  attorney,  has  vainly  endeavored  since  to  secure  the 
necessary  enactment.  She  notes  a  growing  sentiment  in  the  State 
favoring  the  movement.  Mrs.  Lockwood,  having  legal  business  in 
Fairfax  county,  was  admitted,  under  the  comity  rule,  to  practice  in  a 
State  court  of  Virginia  in  1878,  and  in  1892  opened  a  law  office  at 
Norfolk  where  she  practiced  awhile. 

“  Most  of  the  courts  where  women  applied,”  as  says  Miss  Martin 
in  the  article  cited,  “  at  once  admitted  them  and  spent  no  time  upon 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


399 


fine  spun  theories.”  And  most  of  the  law  schools  of  the  country 
have  likewise  promptly  admitted  women  as  students  when  applied  to 
for  the  purpose,  and  nearly  all  of  the  others  will  do  so  upon  appli¬ 
cation,  having  so  stated  in  letters  received  recently  by  the  author 
from  representatives  in  answer  to  inquiry.  Among  the  exceptional 
cases  may  be  listed  the  Law  Schools  of  Yale,  Harvard,  Columbia 
College,  University  of  Virginia,  Washington  and  Lee  University, 
Cumberland  University,  Columbian  University,  Georgetown  College 
and  University  of  Notre  Dame. 

One  woman  has  been  graduated  an  LL.  B.  by  Yale.  This  is 
Alice  R.  Jordan,  now  Mrs.  Blake,  ‘‘who,  after  a  year  of  study  in  the 
Law  School  of  Michigan  University  and  admission  to  the  Bar  of 
Michigan  in  June,  1885,  entered  the  Law  School  of  Yale  in  the  fall 
of  the  same  year,  and  graduated  at  the  close  of  the  course.”  Prof. 
Francis  Wayland,  Dean  of  the  Faculty,  in  answer  to  inquiry,  sent  a 
clipping  from  the  current  catalogue,  of  the  rule  adopted  by  the  cor- 
ooration  immediately  after  Miss  Jordan  had  received  her  degree,  “to 
prevent  a  repetition  of  the  Jordan  incident.”  Answers  from  the 
other  schools  named  in  this  connection,  state  in  effect  either  want  of 
conveniences  to  make  it  suitable  to  admit  women,  or  no  provision 
for  their  admission. 

Washington  University  at  St.  Louis  was  the  first  to  open  its  law 
department  to  women,  having  granted  the  application  of  Phoebe  W. 
Couzins  in  December,  1868.  The  Northwestern  University  Law 
School,  as  already  stated,  was  the  first  to  graduate  a  woman,  and, 
so  far,  has  graduated  next  to  the  highest  number — fifteen.  The  Law 
Department  of  the  University  of  Michigan  has  graduated  the  most, 
twenty-eight  being  the  number. 

As  to  woman’s  relative  standing  in  law  schools.  The  recent  letter 
from  Michigan  University  Law  Department  says:  “  With  a  few  ex¬ 
ceptions  the  women  who  have  taken  degrees  in  this  department  have 
stood  among  the  best  students  of  their  class.”  Judge  Blodgett  of 
the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  northern  district  of 
Illinois,  dean  of  the  Northwestern  University  Law  School,  in 
a  letter  dated  January  6,  1893,  says:  “My  own  observation 
has  not  been  very  extensive,  as  I  have  only  been  connected 
with  the  university  about  one  year,  but  from  what  I  have 


400 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


seen  I  think  the  lady  students  make  as  good  record  as  students 
as  the  young  men.”  The  former  dean,  the  Hon.  Henry  Booth,  in 
1888,  gave  the  standing  of  women  in  scholarship  as  that  of  a  fair 
average,  and  said:  ‘‘We  discover  no  difference  in  the  capacity  of 
the  sexes  to  apprehend  and  apply  legal  principles.  We  welcome 
ladies  to  the  school  and  regard  their  presence  an  advantage  in  pro¬ 
moting  decorum  and  good  order.” 

M.  B.  R.  Shay,  of  Streator,  Ill.,  who  graduated  from  the  Illinois 
Wesleyan  University  Law  School  in  1879,  won  the  prize  of  $100  for 
the  best  examination  in  her  class.  The  dean  writes  that  she  “  stood 
as  high  as  any  one  who  had  completed  our  course.’ 

The  noted  Woman’s  Legal  Education  Society  of  New  York  City, 
originated  in  the  interest  aroused  in  a  group  of  women  by  the  career 
of  Madame  Emile  Kempin,  L.L.  D.,  who,  having  graduated  from 
tbe  School  of  Jurisprudence  of  the  University  of  Zurich,  Switzerland, 
in  1887,  was  denied  admission  to  the  order  of  advocates  in  her  native 
country,  and  had  come  to  New  York  seeking  opportunities  both  for 
practicing  law  and  for  teaching.  With  the  help  of  the  Woman’s 
Legal  Education  Society,  Dr.  Kempin  was  soon  enabled  to  ‘‘open 
classes  for  the  general  and  practical  study  of  law  by  woman,”  which 
“  served  to  bring  to  light  a  latent  and  hitherto  unexpected  interest  in 
the  study  of  law  by  women,  and  to  show  that  this  was  beginning  to 
be  quite  widely  diffused  throughout  the  community.”  This  being 
shown,  the  society  succeeded,  in  1890,  in  making  arrangement  with 
the  council  of  the  university  of  the  City  of  New  York  ‘‘to  allow  Dr. 
Kempin  to  deliver  in  the  university  building  a  course  of  lectures  to 
business  women  who  did  not  matriculate  at  the  university.”  In 
making  this  arrangement  the  council  11  also  resolved  that  henceforth 
any  properly  qualified  woman  who  should  desire  to  enter  the  regular 
law  school  and  study  for  a  degree  should  be  permitted  to  do  so.” 

Dr.  Kempin’s  lecture  course  was  formally  opened  October  30, 
1S90,  with  three  students,  subsequendy  increased  to  seventeen.  After 
a  while,  in  response  to  applications  from  women  who  were  engaged 
during  the  day,  she  established  an  evening  class.  Eight  students  at¬ 
tended  this.  ‘‘In  addition  to  this  regular  course  of  lectures,  Dr. 
Kempin  was  authorized  by  the  University  Council  to  offer  a  special 
course  on  Roman  Laws  to  the  student  of  the  Law  School,  which 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


40  r 

were  well  attended  and  highly  appreciated.”  At  the  close  of  a  six 
months’  course  “the  students  who  had  assiduously  followed  Dr. 
Kempin’s  instruction,  were  formally  examined  by  her  in  the  presence 
of  the  then  Vice  Chancellor,  now  Chancellor,  Dr.  MacCracken,  to¬ 
gether  with  Judge  Noah  Davis  and  Mr.  Dullon,  of  the  law  firm  of 
Solomon,  Dullen  &  Sutro.  A  satisfactory  examination  was  passed, 
and  certificates  to  that  effect  were  granted  to  thirteen  women.  ’  ’  The 
occasion  was  signalized  by  public  exercises  held  at  the  Carnegie 
Music  Hall  on  April  10,  1891.  ‘‘Here,  and  in  the  presence  of  a 
large  and  friendly  audience,  the  students  received  their  certificates 
from  the  hand  of  the  Vice-Chancellor.  ’  ’  Immediately  after  the  close 
of  this  very  successful  lecture  course,  Dr.  Kempin  returned  to  Switz¬ 
erland  to  visit  her  family,  and  was  induced  by  many  considerations  to 
remain  there.  The  lectureship  created  for  her  has  been  continued 
with  signal  success,  resulting,  as  well,  in  an  arrangement  for  free  law 
lectures  for  women.  Twenty  scholarships  have  been  offered  for  the 
women  students  by  the  Woman’s  Legal  Education  Society;  and  a 
$200  prize  is  offered  jointly  by  the  University  and  Society  to  the  stu¬ 
dents  passing  the  best  examination  at  the  end  of  the  course. 

We  are  unable  to  give  the  exact  number  of  women  lawyers  in  the 
United  States,  but  the  information  we  have  shows  that  on  the  four 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  America,  there  were  more 
than  300,  representing  nearly  every  State  and  Territory  in  the  Union. 
Of  these,  several  are  colored,  and  nearly  one-third  are  graduates  of 
the  law  schools.  Charlotte  E.  Ray,  colored,  a  graduate  of  Howard 
University  Law  School,  was  the  first  woman  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
the  Ex-Slave  Holding  National  Capital,  she  being  admitted  to 
practice  in  the  courts  of  the  District  of  Columbia  on  March  2,  1872, 
which  was  little  more  than  nine  years  after  the  Proclamation  of 
Emancipation,  and  less  than  seven  years  after  the  Civil  War. 

A  large  number  of  women  admitted  have  practiced  very  little  or 
none  at  all.  Others  after  practicing  successfully  for  a  time,  have 
been  drawn  into  temperance  and  other  reform  movements.  The 
balance  upon  admission  settled  down  to  active  practice,  many  of 
whom  are  fast  ripening  into  able  lawyers,  and  are  winning  a  fair  share 
of  the  business.  They  handle  all  kinds  of  cases  in  all  classes  of 
courts  and  for  all  manner  of  clients,  and  are  as  successful  as  male 


402 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


practitioners.  Ten  women  have  been  admitted  to  practice  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

Women  are  as  true  to  their  clients  and  their  interests  as  men  are, 
while  they  are  equally  true  to  their  sex  and  their  duty.  The  honor 
of  the  profession  has  never  been  tarnished  by  them,  and  we  do  not 
find  that  the  respect  and  esteem  which  it  is  the  “  pride  of  man  to  ac¬ 
cord  to  woman,  ’  ’  has  been  in  the  least  diminished  by  their  member¬ 
ship  Some  confine  themselves  mainly  to  an  office  practice,  seldom 
or  never  appearing  in  public;  others  prefer  court  practice.  They 
look  up  their  cases  carefully  and  thoroughly,  and  then  fearlessly  walk 
into  court  and  usually  win.  They  seldom  undertake  a  case  unless 
satisfied  that  substantial  justice  is  on  the  side  of  their  client.  Those 
who  enter  the  forum  are  cordially  countenanced  by  brother  lawyers 
and  acceptably  received  by  court  and  jury.  As  a  rule,  they  are 
treated  with  the  utmost  courtesy  by  the  Bench,  the  Bar,  and  other 
court  officers.  Woman’s  influence  in  the  court  room  is  promotive  of 
good  in  several  respects  other  than  indicated,  especially  in  social  im¬ 
purity  cases  when  language  in  her  presence  becomes  more  chaste  and 
the  moral  tone  thereby  elevated  perceptibly. 

Women  have  acted  successfully  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
as  police  judges,  justices  of  the  peace,  grand  and  petit  jurors,  Fed¬ 
eral  and  State  Court  clerks  and  deputy  clerks,  official  stenographers 
and  reporters  for  Federal  and  State  Courts,  special  examiners  or 
referees,  court  appraisers,  court  record  writers,  notaries  public, 
legislative  clerks,  deputy  constables,  examiners  in  chancery  and 
examiners  of  applicants  for  admission  to  the  bar,  and  State  and 
Federal  Court  Commissioners.  While  commissioners,  many  cases 
have  been  tried  before  them.  For  instance:  Ada  Lee,  of  Port 
Huron,  Mich.,  the  year  following  her  admission  in  1883,  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  Circuit  Court  Commissioner,  having  been 
nominated  by  the  Republican,  Democratic  and  Greenback  parties  of 
St.  Clair  county.  “She  performed  the  duties  of  this  office  and  held 
it  until  the  expiration  of  her  term,  despite  the  fact  that  thirteen  suits 
were  begun  to  oust  her,  during  which  time  217  cases  were  tried 
before  her.”  Mrs.  J.  M.  Kellogg  acted  as  Assistant  Attorney- 
General  during  the  time  her  husband  was  Attorney- General  of 
Kansas.  Phoebe  W.  Couzins,  LL.  B.,  was  chief  Deputy  United 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


403 


States  Marshal  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Missouri  during  the  time 
her  father  was  Marshal.  At  the  death  of  her  father  she  was 
appointed  ad  interim.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch,  LL.  B.,  was 
for  a  while  Professor  of  Commercial  Law  in  the  Rockford  (Ill.) 
Commercial  College.  A  number  of  women  lawyers  have  delivered 
legal  addresses  before  students  of  law  and  other  schools  and  before 
legislative  committees  and  general  audiences. 

Several  women  lawyers  have  been  nominated  by  political  parties 
for  the  highest  state  judicial  offices,  and  although  not  elected,  the 
parties  nominating  not  being  strong  enough  numerically  to  elect,  ran 
far  ahead  of  male  candidates  on  the  same  tickets. 

Death  has  visited  the  ranks  several  times.  Lemma  Barkaloo,  a 
graduate  from  the  Law  Department  of  Washington  University,  was 
admitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Missouri  in  1870,  and  passed 
away  the  same  year  from  typhoid  fever.  At  a  meeting  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  bar  of  St.  Louis,  held  to  take  suitable  action  and  pay 
their  respects  to  her  memory,  it  was  resolved:  “That  in  her  erudi¬ 
tion,  industry  and  enterprise,  we  have  to  regret  the  loss  of  one,  who, 
in  the  morning  of  her  career,  bade  fair  to  reflect  credit  upon  our 
profession,  and  a  new  honor  upon  her  sex.’’  Miss  Barkaloo  was  in 
the  “first  bloom  of  womanhood.’’  Having  been  refused  admission 
into  the  Law  Department  of  Columbia  College  in  her  native  state, 
because  she  was  a  woman,  she  went  to  the  West  to  secure  the  ad¬ 
vantages  she  was  denied  at  home.  Alta  M.  Hulett  passed  away  in 
1877.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Bar,  to  pay  the  last  tribute  of 
respect  to  her  memory,  it  was  resolved:  “  That  while  Miss  Hulett’ s 
admission  to  the  bar  was  a  new  and  unprecedented  event  in  this 
State,  she  was  nevertheless  cordially  received  and  welcomed  as  a 
member  thereof;  and  although  so  young  when  admitted,  and  when 
she  went  away  had  been  in  practice  but  little  over  three  years,  she 
had  won  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  her  whose  friend¬ 
ship  and  regard  were  worth  having,  by  her  purity  of  character  and 
womanly  virtues,  her  honorable  and  courteous  demeanor,  and  by  her 
industry  and  diligence  in  business,  as  well  as  by  the  learning  and 
ability,  which,  young  as  she  was,  she  displayed  in  a  pre-eminent  de¬ 
gree  in  the  conduct  of  causes  and  business  entrusted  to  her  care.” 

Lavinia  Goodell,  the  pioneer  woman  lawyer  of  Wisconsin,  passed 


404 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


away  in  1880.  She  was  in  partnership  with  Angie  J.  King,  under 
the  name  of  Goodell  &  King.  A  prominent  member  of  the  bar  who 
knew  her  well,  says:  “  She  had  a  judicial  mind  and  extensive  legal 
learning,  and  her  arguments  evinced  a  thorough  appreciation  of  the 
genius  and  spirit  of  law.”  M.  Fredreka  Perry  passed  away  in  1883. 
She  graduated  from  the  Law  Department  of  Michigan  University  in 
1875.  Upon  receiving  her  diploma  she  was  admitted  to  the  Michi¬ 
gan  Bar,  and  the  same  year  commenced  practice  in  Chicago  in  part¬ 
nership  with  Ellen  A.  Martin,  under  the  name  of  Perry  &  Martin. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Bar  upon  the  occasion  of  her  death,  the 
following  memorial  was  unanimously  adopted:  “  Having  heard  with 
feelings  of  regret  and  of  profound  sorrow  of  the  premature  death  of 
Miss  Mary  Fredreka  Perry,  of  this  city,  an  honorod  member  of  this 
Bar,  we  do  most  earnestly  testify  to  her  many  virtues  and  accom¬ 
plishments  as  a  woman,  and  to  her  ability  and  brilliant  prospects  as  a 
lawyer,  as  well  as  of  the  respect  and  admiration  with  which  she  was 
regarded  personally  and  professionally  by  the  Bench  and  the  Bar. 
We  lament  her  early  departure  the  more  because  she  was  one  of  the 
few  pioneers  of  her  sex  who  had  here  entered  our  profession,  and 
was  fast  demonstrating  to  the  world  the  great  success  which  a  woman 
can  achieve  in  a  pursuit  calling  for  the  highest  qualities  to  secure 
distinction.”  Tabitha  A.  Holton,  of  Dobson,  North  Carolina,  passed 
away  in  1886.  She  was  admitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State 
in  1S78,  and  practiced  in  partnership  with  her  brother,  Samuel  L. 
Holton,  devoting  herself  chiefly  to  office  work  and  the  preparation  of 
civil  cases.  Three  passed  away  in  1891:  Lettie  L.  Burlingame,  of 
Joliet,  Ill.,  a  graduate  of  the  Michigan  University  Law  Department, 
and  one  of  our  most  able  and  successful  women  practitioners.  Then 
Carrie  Palmer-Denny,  the  noted  woman  lawyer  of  the  new  State  of 
Washington.  And  finally  Lelia  Robinson-Sawtelle,  the  pioneer 
woman  lawyer  of  New  England.  Mrs.  Sawtelle  enjoyed  the  novel 
experience  of  practicing  before  mixed  juries,  composed  of  men  and 
women,  during  her  two  years’  residence  in  Washington.  Although 
she  had  built  up  a  good  paying  business  in  Boston,  where  she  re¬ 
sumed  practice  in  1887,  she  was  most  widely  known  as  a  writer  on 
legal  subjects.  Of  her  book  “  Law  made  Easy,”  the  Hon.  Charles  T. 
Russell,  law  professor  in  the  Boston  University,  says:  “  For  the  end 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


405 


proposed,  the  information  and  instruction  of  the  popular  mind  in  the 
elements  of  law,  civil  and  criminal,  I  know  of  no  work  which  sur¬ 
passes  it.  It  is  comprehensive  and  judicious  in  scope,  accurate  in 
statement,  terse,  vigorous,  simple,  and  clear  in  style.  My  gratifica¬ 
tion  in  this  work  is  none  the  less  that  its  author  is  the  first  lady 
Bachelor  of  Laws  graduated  from  our  Boston  University  Law  School, 
and  that  she  has  thus  early  and  fully  vindicated  her  right  to  the  high¬ 
est  honors  of  the  school  accorded  her  at  her  graduation.”  She  after¬ 
wards  wrote  a  manual  entitled  “  The  Law  of  Husband  and  Wife,” 
which  likewise  has  been  well  received,  and  was  at  work  upon  another 
to  be  called  “  Wills  and  Inheritances.”  She  was  married  to  Eli  A. 
Sawtelle,  of  Boston,  only  little  more  than  a  year  before  her  call  up 
higher.  During  her  wedding  journey  she  was  admitted  to  the  Bar 
of  the  Federal  Supreme  Court. 

M.  B.  R.  Shay  is  author  of  ‘‘Students’  Guide  to  Common  Law 
Pleading.”  Of  this  work,  Hon  R.  M.  Benjamin,  dean  of  Law 
Faculty,  and  Hon.  A.  G.  Kerr,  professor  of  Pleading  of  Law  De¬ 
partment  of  the  Illinois  Wesleyan  University,  say:  “  We  have 
examined  with  considerable  care  Shay’s  Questions  on  Common  Law 
Pleading,  and  can  cheerfully  recommend  them  to  students  as  ad¬ 
mirably  adapted  to  guide  them  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
principles  of  pleading  as  laid  down  by  those  masters  of  the  system, 
Stephen,  Gould  and  Chi  tty.”  Myra  Bradwell  has  continued  edit¬ 
ing  the  Chicago  Legal  News ,  in  which  many  of  the  reforms  first 
advocated  in  its  columns  have  been  quite  generally  incorporated  into 
law.  And  for  two  decades  she  has  been  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
most  successful  law-book  publishing  enterprises.  Her  daughter, 
Bessie  Bradwell- Helmer,  L.L.  B.,  compiled,  unassisted,  twelve 
volumes  of  Bradwell’ s  Appellate  Court  Reports.  Catherine  V. 
Waite,  L.L.  B.,  founded  and  ably  edited  for  some  years  the  Chicago 
Law  Times.  Cora  A.  Bennison,  L.L.  B.,  was  for  some  time  law 
editor  for  the  West  Publishing  Company  of  St.  Paul.  Several  able 
articles  have  been  published  in  law  journals  written  by  our  women 
lawyers. 

The  two  general  associations  of  women  lawyers,  the  ‘  ‘  Equity 
Club”  and  the  ‘‘Woman’s  International  Bar  Association,”  the 
former  organized  in  1886,  and  the  latter  in  1888,  are  inactive  and 


406 


THE  JVAT/ONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


seem  to  have  been  abandoned.  It  is  expected  that  one  better 
founded  will  be  effected  during  the  meetings  of  the  Law  Department 
of  the  Queen  Isabella  Association,  at  the  World’s  Columbian  Expo¬ 
sition.  Women  lawyers  are  welcomed  as  members  of  State  and 
local  bar  associations  formed  by  their  brothers  in  the  profession,  and 
it  is  believed  will  be  no  less  welcome  when  they  appear  at  the 
American  and  the  National  Bar  Association. 

The  committee  of  the  Woman’s  Branch  of  the  World’s  Congress 
Auxiliary  on  Jurisprudence  and  Law  Reform,  of  which  Myra  Brad- 
well  is  chairman,  is  doing  effective  work  from  which  good  results 
may  be  expected. 

For  the  good  that  may  result,  we  feel  impressed  to  speak  more  at 
length  regarding  woman’s  jury  service.  The  first  mixed  juries, 
grand  and  petit,  served  in  Albany  county,  Wyoming,  during  the 
March  term,  1870,  of  the  District  Court  presided  over  by  the  Hon. 
John  H.  Howe,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  “All  the 
women  summoned  as  grand  jurors  were  present  and  answered 
promptly  to  their  names;  none  asked  to  be  excused,  all  seemed  to 
feel  that  they  were  performing  one  of  the  important  duties  of  citizen¬ 
ship.’’  A  woman  bailiff  was  appointed.  Judge  Howe  in  writing  to 
the  Legal  News,  in  response  to  inquiry,  said:  “With  all  my 
prejudices  against  the  policy,  I  am  under  conscientious  obligations 
to  say  that  these  women  acquitted  themselves  with  such  dignity,  de¬ 
corum,  propriety  of  conduct,  and  intelligence  as  to  win  the  admira¬ 
tion  of  every  fair-minded  citizen  of  Wyoming.  They  were  careful, 
painstaking,  intelligent  and  conscientious.  They  were  firm  and  reso¬ 
lute  for  the  right  as  established  by  the  law  and  the  testimony.  Their 
verdicts  were  right,  and  after  three  or  four  criminal  trials,  the  lawyers 
engaged  in  defending  persons  accused  of  crime,  began  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  right  of  peremptory  challenge  to  get  rid  of  the 
women  jurors,  who  were  too  much  in  favor  of  enforcing  the  laws  and 
punishing  crime  to  suit  the  interests  of  their  clients.  After  the  grand 
jury  had  been  in  session  two  days,  the  dance-house  keepers,  gam¬ 
blers,  and  demi-monde  fled  out  of  the  city  in  dismay,  to  escape  the 
indictment  of  women  grand  jurors.  In  short,  I  have  never,  in 
twenty-five  years  of  constant  experience  in  the  courts  of  the  country, 
seen  more  faithful,  intelligent  and  resolutely  honest,  grand  and 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WO  MAN. 


407 


petit  jurors  than  these.”  At  the  next  term  the  experiment  was  re¬ 
peated.  Judge  Howe,  in  his  charge  to  the  grand  jury,  composed  of 
nine  men  and  six  women,  took  occasion  to  say  that:  “  The  bar  and 
bench,  and  the  intelligent  business  men  of  the  whole  country,  have 
long  felt  that  something  is  needed  to  improve  and  purify  our  jury 
system— something  to  lift  it  above  prejudice  and  passion,  and  imbue 
it  with  a  higher  regard  for  the  law,  for  justice,  oath  and  conscience. 
Perhaps  the  introduction  of  this  new  element  may  accomplish  this.” 

After  a  three  years’  trial,  Judge  J.  W.  Kingman,  Associate  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Wyoming,  in  response  to  inquiry,  wrote: 
“  The  courts  have  been  nearly  powerless  with  only  men  for  jurors, 
in  enforcing  the  laws  against  drunkenness,  gambling,  houses  of  ill- 
fame  and  debauchery  in  any  of  its  forms.  Neither  grand  nor  petit 
juries  could  be  relied  on;  but  a  few  women  on  either  panel  changed 
the  face  of  things  at  once,  and  from  that  day  this  kind  of  vice  has 
trembled  before  the  law  and  hidden  itself  from  sight,  where  formerly 
it  stalked  abroad  with  shameless  front  and  brazen  confidence  in  pro¬ 
tection  from  punishment.  *  *  *  Not  a  shigle  verdict ,  civil  or  crim¬ 
inal ,  has  been  set  aside  where  women  have  composed  a  part  of  the 
jury.  This  has  not  been  the  case  by  any  means,  when  they  have 
not  been  present.  They  have  given  better  attention  than  the  men  to 
the  progress  of  the  trials;  have  remembered  the  evidence  better; 
have  paid  more  heed  to  the  charges  of  the  court;  have  been  less  in¬ 
fluenced  by  business  relations  and  outside  considerations,  and  have 
exhibited  a  keener  conscientiousness  in  the  honest  discharge  of 
responsibility.  ’  ’ 

Wyoming  women  continued  to  serve  as  jurors  whenever  permitted 
to  do  so.  But  adverse  influences  finally  succeeded  in  preventing 
their  names  from  being  drawn.  Since  Wyoming  became  a  State  the 
custom  is  being  revived. 

Upon  the  passage  of  the  law,  in  1883,  giving  to  the  women  of 
Washington  full  rights  of  citizenship,  women  there,  when  drawn  as 
grand  and  petit  jurors,  assumed  the  duty  of  jury  service  with  results 
as  satisfactory  as  in  Wyoming.  And  they  continued  to  serve  as  long 
as  they  were  permitted  to  do  so.  Judge  Greene,  then  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  while  presiding  over  the  District  Court  at  Port 
Townsend,  in  1884,  gave  warning  of  the  approaching  cessation  of  the 


408 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


right,  in  his  charge  to  the  grand  jury.  Addressing  himself  to  the 
women  on  the  jury  he  said:  “There  is  a  determined  movement 
afoot  to  deprive  you  of  your  participation  in  public  affairs.  ...  If 
those  forces  in  this  Territory  which  pander  to  drunkenness,  gambling 
and  social  infamy,  those  and  other  forms  of  vice  that  especially  insult, 
molest  and  desolate  the  home,  if  those  forces,  I  say,  aided  and 
pushed  on  by  interests  from  Portland,  San  Francisco  and  St.  Paul, 
invading  our  territory  and  intermeddling  in  our  government,  should 
succeed  in  our  next  legislature  in  dethroning  and  disgracing  the  women 
of  Washington,  I  want  every  patriotic  citizen  to  be  able  to  point 
back  to  the  record  made  by  our  women,  not  only  at  our  polling 
places,  but  in  our  courts,  as  an  ineffaceable  monumental  protest 
against  the  degradation.” 

The  vicious  elements  referred  to  succeeded,  not  through  the 
legislature,  but  through  an  adverse  court  decision. 

May  the  day  soon  dawn  when  the  women  of  the  Nation  shall  be 
equally  permitted  not  only  to  plead  in  court,  but  to  serve  as  jurors, 
to  sit  as  judges  and  to  fill  other  judicial  positions — all  in  the  interest 
of  the  highest  good  of  mankind,  and  in  furtherance  of  the  true 
administration  of  justice. 


Miss  Lillian  Whiting. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 


AMERICAN  WOMEN  OF  THE  DRAMA. 

BY  LILIAN  WHITING.* 

“O,  art  divine,  supreme,  undying — 

Not  time  nor  space  can  e’er  subdue! 

The  seas  roll  on — the  years  are  flying — 

Man  passes — thou  alone  art  true! 

No  cloud  can  dim  their  deathless  lustre 
Whose  names  thy  angel  hands  unroll. 

Nor  blight  the  shining  shapes  that  cluster 
In  thy  Pantheon  of  the  soul!  ” 

William  Winter. 

THE  language  of  Art  is  universal:  it  transends  race  and  place,  and 
were  the  American  women  of  the  drama  to  be  limited  to  those 
born  in  this  country  the  line  would  be  an  artificial  and  unimportant 
one:  for  it  is  less  the  accident  of  birth  than  it  is  association  and  iden¬ 
tification  with  any  country  which  makes  one  truly  a  citizen.  Our 
greatest  American  actress  now  before  the  public,  Agnes  Booth,  was 
born  in  Australia,  although  practically  she  belongs  to  the  country 
where  she  has  lived  from  early  girlhood  and  to  which  she  has  given 
the  brilliant  and  undying  fame  of  her  histrionic  triumphs.  Again  the 
great  actress,  Genevieve  Ward,  although  born  in  New  York  City  has 
all  her  life  been  so  identified  with  Europe,  visiting  her  native  country 
only  on  rarely  recurring  professional  tours,  that  she  is  practically 
more  foreign  than  is  Mme.  Modjeska  who  has  identified  herself  with 
the  American  stage.  In  the  brief  general  resume  which  is  all  this 
paper  may  hope  to  be,  it  is,  of  course  utterly  impossible  to  embody 
any  statistical  data  of  importance,  or  to  attempt  any  complete'  and 
accurate  catalogue  of  the  women  who  have  given  enchanted  hours  to 


♦Editor,  Boston  Budget. 


410 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


the  American  stage.  Personalities  must,  for  the  most  part,  be  en¬ 
tirely  subordinated  to  that  which  they  have  produced.  It  is  Art,  not 
the  artists,  with  which,  in  this  consideration  we  must  chiefly  have  to 
do.  Charlotte  Cushman,  Clara  Morris  and  Mary  Anderson  are  al¬ 
most,  if  not  quite  the  only  American  born  women  of  the  stage  who 
have  achieved  cosmopolitan  recognition:  Georgia  Cay  van  and  Effie 
Ellsler  have  won  high  reputation,  which  in  Miss  Ellsler’s  case  by 
means  of  her  extended  appearances  may  almost  be  called  national. 
Fanny  Davenport,  Ada  Rehan,  Rose  Coghlan,  Minna  Gale,  and  Julia 
Marlowe,  while  all  are  dominant  forces  in  the  American  drama,  are 
not  one  of  them  American  born,  although  from  a  very  early  age  they 
have  been  identified  with  this  country.  Then  in  Adelaide  Neilson, 
Mme.  Janauschek  and  Mile.  Rhea,  we  have  had  the  foreign  born  ac¬ 
tress  who  was  yet  largely  a  part  of  our  own  drama,  in  a  more  abid¬ 
ing  'and  permanent  sense  than  the  three  great  stars,  Rachel,  Ristori 
and  Bernhardt,  who  have  flashed  into  our  horizon  to  illuminate  it  for 
a  season  and  then  to  recede  to  their  native  climes.  In  the  earlier 
period  of  the  American  drama  Fanny  Kemble,  English  born  and 
bred,  was  one  of  the  reigning  powers  on  our  stage  and  the  beautiful 
Julia  Dean,  though  an  actress  in  America,  cannot  be  claimed  as  an 
American  actress.  Eliza  Riddle,  afterward  Mrs.  Joseph  M.  Field, 
(the  mother  of  Kate  Field)  was  American  born  and  bred  and  was  one 
of  the  most  gifted  and  exquisite  artists  of  her  time.  And  in  those  days 
Laura  Keene,  Agnes  Robertson,  Matilda  Herron  and  Kate  Reignolds 
(now  Mrs.  Ewing  Winslow)  were  notable  stars  of  the  American 
drama.  In  Boston  especially,  is  remembered  the  names  of  Clara 
Fisher  (later  Mrs.  Maeder)  and  of  good  Mrs.  Vincent,  so  long  an  in¬ 
tegral  force  in  the  stock  company  of  the  Boston  Museum.  Annie 
Clarke,  for  many  years  the  popular  “  leading  lady  ”  at  the  Museum 
resigned  her  throne  gracefully  only  a  year  or  two  ago;  and  if  we  were 
to  turn  for  our  briefest  glance  to  the  lyric  stage  the  name  of  our 
greatest  and  grandest  lyric  artist,  Adelaide  Phillips  is  before  us  with 
that  of  her  famous  sister,  Mathilde  Phillips,  and  the  illustrious  names, 
too,  of  Annie  Louise  Cary,  Clara  Louise  Kellogg,  Emma  Abbott, 
Emma  Eames,  Agnes  Huntington,  Sibyl  Sanderson,  and  the  four 
noted  Boston  artists  of  song, — Flora  Barr)-,  Gertrude  Franklin,  Edith 
Abell  and  Marguerite  Hall, — all  these  names  and  others  crowd  upon 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


41 1 

one’s  memory;  and  it  is  asserted,  with  claims,  I  believe,  to  accuracy, 
that  the  great  diva  Mme.  Adelina  Patti,  though  of  foreign  lineage 
was  really  born  in  New  York  City. 

From  all  this  brief  resum 6  it  will  be  realized  that  for  nearly  half  a 
century  America  has  been  the  theatre  for  a  national  drama,  one  that 
has  embodied  and  portrayed  essential  art,  whether  the  actors  them¬ 
selves  have  been  of  American  nationality  by  birth,  or  by  identity  and 
association.  As  it  is  impossible  to  say  anything  adequate  of  the 
American  stage  without  including  those  who,  while  they  may  have 
been  born  elsewhere,  are  practically  American  actresses  and  are  cer¬ 
tainly  women  of  the  American  drama,  I  shall  now  beg  the  indul¬ 
gence  of  my  readers  in  regard  to  the  literal  fact  that  we  may  pursue 
our  way  to  the  larger  truth. 

For  facts  and  truth  are  by  no  means  identical,  although  they  bear 
to  each  other  an  inseparable  relation.  Facts  are  the  scaffolding  by 
means  of  which  we  climb  to  truth;  facts  are  the  crude  material,  so  to 
speak,  and  truth  the  fine  inflorescence;  and  thus  the  true  significance 
in  the  relation  of  the  American  drama  to  American  life  must  lie  in  a 
larger  region  than  that  of  the  actual  facts,  the  statistical  data  regard¬ 
ing  it. 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  days  of  Charlotte  Cushman  to  those  of 
Agnes  Booth  and  Clara  Morris;  from  the  days  of  the  appearance  of 
Mile.  Rachel  to  those  of  the  appearance  of  Mme.  Eleanora  Duse. 
Yet  to  appreciate  the  greatness  of  any  one  is  better  to  appreciate 
the  greatness  of  all.  To  depose  one,  to  exalt  another,  would  be 
indeed  ignoble  policy,  and  the  futility  of  such  mental  shifting  is  well 
pointed  out  by  Jules  Janin,  the  great  French  critic,  who  wrote  on  the 
first  appearance  of  Ristori:  “We  are,  in  truth,  great  children,  when 
we  have  amused  ourselves  for  some  time  with  a  pretty  plaything,  if 
another  one  is  given  to  us  we  will  immediately  forget  the  first.  It  is 
fortunate  if  we  do  not  break  it  by  striking  on  it  with  the  new  one. 
We  had  a  beautiful  tragic  toy,  Mile.  Rachel.  The  Italians  show  us 
another,  Ristori,  Crac!  Here  we  are  about  to  smash  Rachel  with 
Ristori,  as  if  the  dramatic  art  were  not  vast  enough  to  afford  two 
places  of  honor  to  two  women  of  different  kinds  of  talent,  yet  equal 
in  their  sublimity.” 

Between  the  years  1840-90  the  development  of  the  drama  in 


4X2 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


America  has  been  one  of  marvellous  richness,  and  in  this  finer  ad¬ 
vance  of  Art  women  have  borne  a  notable  share.  The  triumphs  of 
genius  are  for  all  time,  and  while  the  art  of  acting  is,  by  its  very  na¬ 
ture,  one  not  to  be  preserved,  in  visible  or  tangible  form,  it  is  fit,  for 
that  very  reason,  more  than  any  other  art,  to  be  enshrined  in  deathless 
memory  and  transmitted  from  one  generation  to  another  in  transfig¬ 
ured  glory.  It  was  somewhere  in  the  forties  that  Rachel  appeared 
in  the  United  States  arousing  a  new  enthusiasm  for  the  stage.  It 
was  in  1866  that  Mme.  Ristori  first  appeared  in  America,  and  what  a 
constellation  of  stars  have  been  seen  in  the  little  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century  since  that  memorable  date.  For  it  is  within  this  time  that 
stars  have  risen  and  have  set,  and  have  arisen  to  still  illuminate  the 
dramatic  and  lyric  stage.  One  so  readily  recalls  within  this  time  the 
appearances  of  Adelaide  Lilian  Neilson,  Sarah  Bernhardt,  Agnes 
Booth,  Fanny  Davenport,  Clara  Morris,  Sara  Jewett,  Ellen  Terry, 
Marie  Wainwright,  Rose  Coghlan,  Mme.  Janauschek,  Ada  Rehan, 
Genevieve  Ward,  Mary  Anderson,  Ida  Vernon,  Mile.  Rhea,  Mme. 
Modjeska,  Julia  Marlowe,  RosinaVokes,  Georgia  Cayvan,  Mrs.  Lang¬ 
try,  Mrs.  Potter,  and  the  lyric  artists  before  mentioned  in  this  paper. 
Of  these,  as  we  have  seen,  few  are  American  born;  few,  only,  have 
claim  to  greatness,  but  all  have  contributed,  whether  for  good  or  ill, 
to  the  progress,  or  to  the  retrogression  of  the  stage  during  this 
period.  Of  these  Adelaide  Neilson  has  gone  to  that  far,  fair  country 
we  shall  all  one  day  see.  On  August  15,  1880,  Miss  Neilson  died 
in  Paris,  and  her  mortal  form  was  laid  under  the  lilies  and  roses  in 
Brompton  Cemetery,  London,  where,  on  a  marblecross,  is  inscribed: 
“In  loving  memory  of  Adelaide  Neilson;  Gifted  and  Beautiful, 
Resting.”  If  I  may  venture  to  embalm  here  some  lines  of  my  own, 
written  at  the  time  of  her  death,  it  is  not  because  they  have  poetic 
claim,  but  only  that  they  attempt  the  embodiment  in  verse  which 
otherwise  I  should  try — with  perhaps  as  little  success — to  embody  in 
prose. 

LILIAN  ADELAIDE  NEILSON. 

[8-i5-’8o.] 

While  the  lilies  bend  above  her 
Look  your  last,  O,  friend  or  lover! 

While  the  light,  unfading,  lies, 

Gently  on  the  closed  eyes, 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


413 


And  the  waving  grasses  keep 
Watch  above  her  silent  sleep, — 

While  the  English  daisies  feet 
Linger  over  Juliet — 

While  the  lilies  bend  above  her 
Look  your  last,  O  friend  or  lover! 

Not  for  her  the  summer’s  close 
Breaks  the  calm  of  that  repose. 

.Nevermore  shall  wind  or  wave 
Call  her  from  that  lonely  grave. 

Angel  of  the  Asphodel, 

Guard  the  sleeper — all  is  well! 

O’er  her  rest  the  sun  shall  set, 

Dreamless  rest  of  Juliet — 

Holy  starlight  still  and  calm 
Fold  her  in  its  voiceless  psalm. 

Sunny-tressed  fair  Adelaide, 

In  our  hearts  that  grave  is  made. 

All  her  loveliness  appears 
Only  through  a  rain  of  tears. 

Only  love  and  tenderness, 

Only  prayers  and  sweet  caress, 

Only  hearts  that  ne’er  forget — 

Guard  the  grave  of  Juliet. 

Look  your  last,  O  friend  or  lover! 

Let  the  angels  watch  above  her. 

Sara  Jewett,  a  beautiful  young  actress  who  had  apparently  the 
fairest  of  futures  before  her,  overtasked  her  strength  to  a  degree  that 
has  left  her  an  invalid  for  the  past  few  years.  Mme.  Janauschek 
has  definitely  quitted  the  stage.  Mme.  Ristori  was  seen  for  the  last 
time  on  the  American  stage  in  1886.  Mary  Anderson  has  become 
Mrs.  Nevarro  and  is  living  her  happy  wedded  life  in  privacy,  at 
Tunbridge  Wells,  near  London.  Mme.  Bernhardt,  Genevieve  Ward 
and  Ellen  Terry  we  shall  undoubtedly  welcome  to  our  shores  again. 
Mme.  Modjeska  makes  America  her  home  and  the  day  is  still,  let  us 
trust,  far  off  ere  she  will  leave  the  stage  she  adorns.  Georgia  Cayvan 
holds  a  most  responsible  and  honored  place  as  “leading  lady’’  of 
the  Lyceum  Theatre,  New  York,  and  in  Miss  Cayvan  is  not  only  an 
actress  of  noble  quality  and  refined  art,  but  a  woman  too  of  generous 


414 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


and  beautiful  qualities  who  makes  better  the  world  in  which  she  lives. 
Ada  Rehan  is  a  dazzling  and  fascinating  actress,  and  as  “leading 
lady’’  of  Daly’s  Theatre  has  acquired  a  well-deserved  national  repu¬ 
tation.  Miss  Ida  Vernon,  who,  though  she  has  not  appeared  in  star 
roles,  is  after  all  the  star  of  any  performance  in  which  she  plays — so 
finished  and  marvellously  perfect  is  her  acting.  Mile.  Rhea,  a  de¬ 
lightful  artist;  Miss  Marlowe,  with  her  unusual  promise,  deepening 
into  as  unusual  performance;  Rosina  Vokes,  inimitably  mirth- 
provoking;  Rose  Coghlan  and  Marie  Wainwright,  both  admirable 
actresses,  also  are  the  mistresses  of  their  art;  Effie  Ellsler,  still  grow¬ 
ing  and  advancing;  all  these  we  are  seeing  and  hope  to  see  for  many 
a  year  to  come. 

Fanny  Davenport  comes  from  an  eminent  dramatic  family,  and 
from  parents  as  eminent,  too,  for  high  and  noble  qualities  of  character 
as  well  as  lofty  gifts.  Miss  Davenport  has  inherited  their  chivalrous 
honor  and  generosity  and  to  her  talents  adds  a  remarkable  degree  of 
energy  and  enterprise. 

In  Mary  Anderson  America  produced  an  actress  of  wonderful 
beauty,  of  power  to  create  the  most  exquisite  pictorial  effects  on  the 
stage  and  of  a  singularly  devout  religious  character.  Not  a  great 
dramatic  genius,  apart  from  her  winning  and  radiant  personality,  she 
still  produced  the  effects  of  genius.  From  her  first  appearance,  as  a 
girl  of  twenty-one,  in  the  Autumn  of  1876,  to  her  marriage  and 
taking  leave  of  the  stage  in  1889  or  90,  her  success  was  an  unques¬ 
tioned,  if  not,  indeed,  an  unanalyzed  fact. 

In  Clara  Morris  is  seen  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  pure 
genius  that  the  stage  in  any  country  has  produced.  The  list  of 
dramatic  stars  that  would  include  Deselle,  and  Rachel,  and  Bernhardt 
in  France;  Ristori  and  Duse  in  Italy;  would  include  Clara  Morris 
and  Agnes  Booth  in  America.  Miss  Morris  has  been  called  “a 
great  emotional  actress.”  She  is  this — and  more.  She  has  the 
tragic  intensity  of  nature;  the  most  wonderful  flexibility  and  impres¬ 
sionability  of  temperament.  She  is  a  native  of  Cleveland,  O.,  and 
almost  from  her  childhood  has  been  on  the  stage.  In  private  life 
she  is  known  as  Mrs.  Harriott,  and  the  home  of  Col.  and  Mrs. 
Harriott  on  the  Hudson  just  out  of  New  York  is  one  of  the  most 
charming  of  places.  No  woman  of  the  stage  lives  more  entirely  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


415 


ideal  life  of  the  artist  than  does  she  whom  the  world  knows  best  as 
Clara  Morris. 

Agnes  Booth  (whom  in  private  life  we  know  as  Mrs.  John  B. 
Schceffel),  has  been  called  the  American  Bernhardt,  and  in  all  the 
essentials  of  the  most  finished  and  exquisite  details  of  art;  in  an  inde¬ 
scribable  charm  of  presence,  a  magnetic  sway  over  the  audiences,  the 
two  great  artists  have  much  in  common.  The  differences  of  race 
are  lost  sight  of  in  affinities  of  temperament.  So  incomparably  great 
an  artist  is  Agnes  Booth  that  it  is  no  more  a  compliment  to  her  to  be 
thought  of  as  akin  to  Mme.  Bernhardt  than  it  is  to  Mme.  Bernhardt 
to  be  thought  of  as  akin  to  Mrs.  Booth.  In  Agnes  Booth,  however, 
one  feels  too,  in  all  her  great  effects  as  an  artist,  the  noble,  lofty, 
generous,  tender  and  delicately-organized  womanhood  behind  the 
artist.  Mrs.  Schoeffel  is  as  radiantly  enchanting  off  the  stage  as  she 
is  on  it.  Born  in  Australia,  coming  when  very  young  to  America; 
having  been  on  the  stage  almost  from  childhood,  and  with  her  art 
life,  living,  too,  the  life  of  wife  and  mother  and  friend,  she  has 
wrought  out  of  all  these  varied  elements  a  womanhood  of  such  rich¬ 
ness  and  sweetness  and  power,  as  must  lend  to  the  actress  much  of 
that  indefinable  charm  that  we  feel  in  her  stage  impersonations. 
Manager  and  Mrs.  Schceffel  make  their  winter  home  in  New  York; 
their  summer  cottage  is  at  Manchester-by-the-Sea,  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  of  New  England  seaside  resorts,  and  between  her  art  and 
her  home,  Mrs.  Booth  lives  a  full  and  beautiful  life.  The  subtlety, 
the  brilliant  intensity  of  her  dramatic  creations  are  unsurpassed  by 
those  of  any  living  actress,  and  it  will  be  left  for  the  critic  of  the  future 
to  do  full  justice  to  the  genius  of  Agnes  Booth. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 


WOMEN  IN  BUSINESS  AND  TRADE. 

EDITORIAL. 

WOMAN’S  work  in  several  lines  is  so  concisely  stated  in  an  ar¬ 
ticle  which  appeared  in  the  Minneapolis  Tribune ,  that  we 
quote  from  it  here: 

“Jn  the  multiplicity  of  employments  now  open  to  women,  and  the 
liberal  wages  earned  in  many  of  them,  students  of  sociology  note  an 
almost  incredible  advance  from  the  old  Colonial  days,  and  even  from 
the  conditions  that  prevailed  in  the  first  half  of  the  present  century. 
In  Colonial  times  there  were  no  women  wage-earners  save  in  domes¬ 
tic  service,  and  in  the  rougher  work  of  tilling  the  soil.  In  the  former, 
thirty  dollars  a  year  was  considered  a  liberal  salary;  in  the  latter,  the 
woman  was  glad  to  earn  six  or  seven  shillings  a  week.  The  farmers’ 
wives  and  daughters  cultivated  the  flax  from  which  they  made  the 
household  linen,  and  carded,  dyed,  spun  and  wove  the  woollen 
garments  of  husbands,  sons  and  brothers,  which  were  made  up  by 
the  paripatetic  country  tailoress,  who  worked  for  twenty-five  cents  a 
day.  Every  woman  was  also  her  own  dressmaker  and  milliner. 
The  Harvard  graduating  class  of  1770  were  all  dressed  in  home¬ 
made  broadcloth. 

“  The  Colonial  working-day  was  fixed  by  law  at  from  5  a.  m.  to 
8  p.  m.,  from  March  to  September,  with  half  an  hour  for  breakfast, 
and  one  and  a  half  hours’  ‘  nooning.  ’  Buttons  and  gloves  were  made 
at  home.  Knitting  and  spinning  were  constant  industries.  The 
hired  spinner,  for  doing  her  allotted  stint  in  the  best  manner,  received 
sixpence  a  day  and  board.  Save  the  keepers  of  ‘  dame’s  schools  ’ 
in  the  towns,  there  were  no  women  teachers.  The  higher  schools  of 
learning,  as  well  as  the  trades,  professions,  and  business  life,  were  all 


Mrs.  Mathilda  B,  Carse. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


417 


closed  to  the  weaker  sex,  who  yet  managed  to  get  through  an 
amount  of  drudgery  in  farm  and  household  work  which  might  well 
have  appalled  the  stoutest  man’s  heart.  The  opening  of  factories 
too  years  ago  made  a  radical  change  in  industrial  conditions  for 
women.  To  these  flocked  farmers’  daughters  of  the  better  class, 
only  too  glad  to  escape  from  the  poverty  and  grinding  toil  of  their 
homes.  But  they  gained  little  by  the  exchange.  A  day’s  labor  in 
the  mills  began  at  5  a.  m.  and  lasted  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hours. 
The  early  New  England  factory  operatives  were  taxed  to  support  re¬ 
ligion,  fined  for  absence  from  church,  and  led  lives  as  strictly  regu¬ 
lated  as  those  of  the  cloister,  and  all  this  for  a  wage  of  from  thirty  to 
fifty  cents  a  day,  and  under  the  worst  sanitary  conditions. 

“  Immigration  gradually  drove  out  American  labor  from  the  mills. 
In  New  England  the  factory  employes  are  now  mostly  French  Can¬ 
adians.  Legislation  has  enforced  sanitary  laws,  shortened  hours  of 
labor,  raised  wages,  banished  children  below  a  certain  age  from  the 
mills,  and  in  all  respects  improved  the  condition  of  operatives. 

“  So  many  congenial  and  remunerative  employments  are  now  open 
to  women  that  few  of  the  more  intelligent  choose  the  life  of  the 
factory,  which  was  once  almost  the  only  outside  avenue  open  to 
them,  and  which,  under  later  and  better  auspices,  drew  to  it  the 
best  classes  of  young  women  from  the  rural  districts — a  class  that 
forty  years  ago  sent  out  as  its  representatives  Lucy  Larcom,  Mrs.  H. 
H.  Robinson  and  other  cultured  young  women,  whose  life  finds 
record  in  that  monthly  magazine  called  the  Lowell  Offering ,  which 
they  themselves  conducted,  and  which  receives  such  charming 
mention  in  Miss  Larcom’ s  recent  volume  of  1  Recollections.’  While 
on  all  lines  of  progress  our  latter-day  world  has  made  rapid  advances, 
in  none  are  they  so  marked  as  in  the  woman’s  world.  The  evolution 
of  the  woman  lawyer,  physician,  bookkeeper,  stenographer,  journal¬ 
ist,  artist,  teacher,  writer,  etc.,  from  the  ill  paid  farm,  household  and 
factory  drudge  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  century,  is  one  of  the  most 
signal  triumphs  of  modern  civilization.” 

It  is  estimated  that  over  6,000  women  in  the  United  States,  act  as 
postmistresses.  The  largest  number  for  any  one  state,  463,  is  in 
Pennsylvania.  Arlo  Bates  tells  of  a  woman  who,  though  she  needed 
work  and  had  no  immediate  prospect  of  it,  refused  to  take  an 


4iS 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


engagement  at  very  low  wages,  because  of  the  effect  it  would  have  on 
the  price  for  such  work  in  general.  If  there  were  more  women  like 
this  one,  the  wages  of  women  would  not  be  so  low.  One  is  glad  to 
be  able  to  add,  that  soon  after  her  refusal  to  take  the  cheap  place, 
this  admirable  woman,  who  stood  up  for  the  interests  of  her  sex, 
procured  a  good  paying  position.  The  number  of  women  in  the 
United  States  as  given  by  the  reports  of  the  census  office,  aggregates 
30,500,000. 

A  club  of  young  women  in  a  New  England  shoe  factory,  pool  their 
savings,  and  invest  in  real  estate.  Their  holdings  are  said  to  be 
already  quite  large  and  profitable. 

The  women  employed  in  the  Treasury  Department  of  the  United 
States,  as  stated  in  a  recent  report,  number  1,400. 

New  York  City  has  over  100,000  women  earning  their  own  living, 
three-fifths  of  whom  support  whole  families. 

From  Harper’s  “  Pocket  Cyclopaedia,”  I  obtained  the  following 
statistics: 

“  Out  of  250  occupations  carried  on  in  the  United  States,  in  1880, 
there  were  only  twenty-nine  in  which  women  were  not  engaged.  In 
1890,  there  were  159  institutions  for  the  higher  education  of  women, 
with  1854  instructors  and  property  to  the  value  of  $12,000,000. 
The  University  of  Pennsylvania  was  opened  to  women  in  October, 
1S90,  with  but  two  dissenting  votes  of  the  faculty,  and  in  the  same 
month  $100,000  were  subscribed  by  women  to  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University  to  aid  in  establishing  the  school,  in  consideration  of 
which  women  will  in  future  be  admitted  to  the  institution.  In 
twenty-eight  States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States  (a  majority 
of  the  Union)  women  have  some  form  of  suffrage. 

‘‘The  total  enfranchised  women  of  the  world  are  18,970,276. 
The  average  weekly  earnings  of  working-women  in  the  cities  of  the 
United  States,  are  $5.24;  the  highest  being  at  San  Francisco,  Cal. 
($6.91  per  week)  and  the  lowest  at  Atlanta,  Ga.  ($4.05)  373  earn 
less  than  $100  per  annum;  2647  earn  $250;  2377  from  $250  to  S300 
and  39S  from  $450  to  $500  a  year.” 

The  largest  business  in  America  handled  by  a  woman  is  the  Money 
Ordei  Department  of  the  Pittsburg  Post-office;  Mary  Steele  has  it  in 
charge. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


4*9 


The  Becker  Manufacturing  Company  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  is  a 
business  owned  and  managed  entirely  by  Mrs.  Becker,  who  fifteen 
years  ago  began  to  supply  hand-knit  goods  to  wholesale  merchants. 
The  business  grew  until  now  she  has  a  thousand  women  working  for 
her.  With  the  exception  of  the  office  force,  most  of  the  employes 
do  this  work  at  their  own  homes. 

A  class  has  been  formed  at  the  Drexel  Institute,  Philadelphia,  for 
the  purpose  of  training  library  assistants,  and  directors,  and  young 
women  are  using  this  opportunity  to  fit  themselves  for  such  work. 
At  present,  salaries  in  this  profession  range  from  $240  to  $1,500  a 
year.  For  a  subordinate  position  the  average  salary  is  from  $300  to 
$500.  A  good  trained  cataloguer  receives  from  $600  to  $900,  and 
the  director  of  a  library  from  $1,000  to  $2,000. 

From  a  report  from  the  clerk  of  the  patent  office,  I  have  learned 
that  3,500  patents  have  been  granted  to  women.  The  first  patent 
ever  issued  to  a  woman  was  for  straw  weaving  with  silk  or  thread. 
This  was  in  1809,  and  the  woman’s  name  was  Mary  Kies.  The 
second  patent  issued  to  a  woman  was  in  1815  to  Mary  Brush  for  a 
corset.  The  patents  to  women  embrace  all  articles  from  dress  im¬ 
provers  to  submarine  telescopes.  The  most  of  the  women  inventors 
of  the  country  live  in  New  England  and  the  Middle  States. 

Few  patents  have  been  taken  out  by  Southern  women,  but  quite  a 
number  come  from  the  West.  Massachusetts  has  more  inventive 
women  than  any  other  part  of  New  England.  Though  the  sewing 
machine  was  invented  by  a  man  there  are  twenty-two  improvements 
made  by  women.  Quite  as  many  patents  are  granted  to  women  for 
improved  machinery  as  for  articles  of  woman’s  wear.  Women  have 
patented  many  things  relating  to  children,  and  a  Californian  woman 
invented  a  baby  carriage  which  netted  her  over  $50,000.  All  sorts 
of  cooking  utensils  have  been  invented  by  women.  A  woman  in 
Pennsylvania  has  invented  a  barrel-hooping  machine  which  brings 
her  $20,000  a  year.  An  Illinois  woman  has  invented  a  portable 
house  which  can  be  carried  about  in  a  cart  or  expressed  to  the  sea¬ 
shore.  It  has  also  folding  furniture  and  a  complete  camping-out 
outfit.  A  number  of  women  have  electrical  patents.  It  is  stated 
that  Mr.  Edison  employs  200  women  in  the  more  delicate  details  of 
his  electrical  inventions.  Two  Californian  girls  are  the  inventors  of  a 


420 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


snow  plow  to  be  attached  to  the  cow-catcher  of  an  engine.  A  Mary¬ 
land  woman  has  distinguished  herself  by  many  inventions,  among 
them  are:  an  automatic  toy,  the  eyeless  needle,  now  used  largely 
by  surgeons,  a  musical  top,  a  folding  basin,  a  folding  flatiron,  a 
novel  bird-cage  chain,  a  musical  fountain,  which  renders  music  while 
throwing  a  stream  of  water  from  a  statuette  with  such  precision  that 
not  a  drop  escapes  to  spoil  the  carpet;  a  dress  shield,  a  sweat-band, 
for  hats,  a  carriage  telephone,  a  musical  paper-weight  and  a  lock 
which  enables  anyone,  by  simply  looking  at  the  key  to  determine 
whether  the  door  is  fastened  or  not,  the  locking  being  registered  on 
the  key.  The  musical  paper-weight  has  a  calendar  attachment,  and 
is  in  the  form  of  a  stem-winding  watch.  The  face  of  the  weight 
indicates  the  day,  month  and  year. 

The  long  list  of  women’s  inventions  would  occupy  too  much  space 
to  describe  or  even  mention.  It  is  claimed  that  the  cotton-gin  in¬ 
vented  in  1793  was  really  the  invention  of  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Green. 

Regarding  woman’s  advance  in  all  directions  of  business,  especi¬ 
ally  in  the  City  of  Chicago,  a  recent  editor  sums  it  up  in  the  following 
rather  sarcastic  but  amusing  manner:  “  The  newest  item  of  all  to  the 
rural  or  semi-rural  visitor  is  the  field  into  which  women  have  entered. 
For  the  living-earning  woman  is  a  new  creature  in  this  world,  who  in 
a  manner  defies  all  instinct  and  tradition.  How  many  thousands  of 
her  there  may  be  here  the  writer  does  not  know,  but  she  is  every¬ 
where.  The  vast  emporiums  of  trade,  at  the  size  and  business  and 
extent  of  which  the  oldest  resident  can  never  cease  to  wonder,  are 
full  of  her.  Where  the  clang  of  falling  iron  resounds  all  day  long; 
where  endless  wheels  dizzily  and  ceaselessly  turn,  she  has  her  corner. 
In  the  crowded  world  she  can  no  longer  wait.  Wind  and  storm 
must  no  longer  delay  her.  Time  must  be  to  her  now  as  it  is  to  a 
man,  with  the  curse  of  Eden  inexorably  upon  her,  bearing  all  the 
burdens  of  her  nature.  She  has  entered  into  the  contest  by  tens  of 
thousands.  Age,  misfortune,  widowhood,  have  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  And  how  does  it  affect  her?  Not  at  all.  Here  then,  oh 
stranger  from  green  fields  and  umbrageous  woods,  is  the  strangest 
puzzle  of  all  the  city  offers  you.  We  have  unsexed  the  world,  and 
left  it  essentially  unchanged.  This  is  still  the  woman  to  whom  you 
will  offer  your  seat  in  the  crowded  car.  It  is  still  she  whose  face  is 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


421 


unsmirched  by  the  glare  of  publicity,  and  to  whom  daintiness  and 
femininity  remain  as  ever.  You  may  as  well  confess,  in  your  hours 
of  calm  reflection,  that  Chicago  and  her  streets  and  marts  have 
taught  you  one  more  lesson,  given  you  one  new  item,  about  that  in¬ 
comprehensible  creature  who  is  your  mother,  your  sister,  and  your 
wife,  but  whom  you  will  never  entirely  comprehend,  should  you  live 
a  thousand  years.”  Over  3,000,000  women  are  earning  independent 
incomes  in  the  United  States. 

The  following  account  of  the  New  York  Woman’s  Exchange  is 
quoted  from  the  article  on  “Industry,”  by  Alice  Hyneman  Rhine, 
in  “Woman’s  Work  in  America:” 

“From  the  first,  the  exchange  became  popular  with  a  certain 
class,  and  had  a  most  phenomenal  growth,  forty  having  come  into 
existence  during  the  last  decade,  all  of  which  are  working  success¬ 
fully  on  the  same  general  plan.  A  walk  through  the  rooms  of  the 
parent  institution,  now  established  in  a  handsome  building  at  329 
Fifth  Avenue,  shows  the  number  and  variety  of  workers  who  availed 
themselves  of  its  privileges.  In  the  salerooms,  hand  painted  and 
embroidered  tapestries  hang  on  the  walls;  artistic  screens,  painted  or 
embroidered  on  all  conceivable  materials,  stand  in  every  nook  and 
corner;  elaborately  decorated  china  for  ornament  or  table  use  lies 
piled  on  shelves,  while  textile  fabrics  of  all  kinds,  made  up  into 
articles  for  wall  decorations,  bed  and  table  use,  or  personal  wear, 
are  tastefully  arranged  on  counters  or  within  glass  cases.  On  the 
upper  floors  in  the  building  women  are  kept  constantly  at  work  in¬ 
specting,  marking,  and  ticketing  goods  sent  in  by  consignees.  In 
the  basement  are  the  storehouse  and  restaurant  for  receiving  and  sell¬ 
ing  cakes,  pickels,  preserves  and  other  edibles,  sent  to  be  disposed 
of  for  the  benefit  of  the  makers. 

“In  this  one  establishment  the  sales  for  the  year  1888  amounted 
to  $51,180.26.  The  aggregate  sold  in  the  cake  and  preserve  de¬ 
partment,  amounted  to  $13,256.89.  One  consignee  of  chicken  jelly, 
etc.,  got  during  the  year  $1,256.89.  Of  two  consignees  in  the  cake 
and  preserve  department  one  received  $1,019.73,  the  other,  $772.42. 
Things  sent  to  the  lunch-room  for  Sunday  night  teas  brought  one 
consignee  the  comfortable  little  income  of  $965.78.  From  the  sale 
of  children’s  wrappers  alone,  one  consignee  received  $548.66,  and 
one  woman  for  screens,  decorated  frames,  etc.,  $1,105.71.  One 


422 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


consignee  received  during  the  spring  and  fall  months,  $217.35  for 
articles  which  she  had  previously  made  for  manufacturers  at  $2.50 
apiece,  and  which  were  sold  for  $35  each. 

In  the  order  department  connected  with  the  exchange,  the  work 
done  consisted  of  1,263  pieces  of  plain  sewing,  1,784  pieces  of  English 
embroidery,  1,100  painted  articles,  and  2,033  fancy  articles.  From 
the  forty  other  societies  then  in  existence  the  reports  showed  a  grand 
aggregate  of  over  $1,000,000  from  sales  during  the  year.” 

Of  women  in  dentistry,  Dr.  Celia  G.  Turner,  writes  that  as  yet  few 
have  entered  that  profession.  Those  who  have  chosen  it  being 
usually  the  wives  or  daughters  of  dentists.  She  herself  was  refused 
admission  to  the  Dental  College,  being  a  woman,  so  she  entered  a 
medical  college,  took  a  course  in  anatomy,  physiology  and  chem¬ 
istry,  and  then  successfully  passed  the  examination  before  the  State 
Board  of  New  Jersey,  thus  securing  her  State  license  to  full  practice. 

Mrs.  Harriet  S.  MacMurphy,  associate  editor  of  the  Omaha  Ex¬ 
celsior,  writes  concerning  woman’s  work  in  Omaha: 

“  Forty  years  ago  the  Indian  squaw  gazed  upon  the  ‘  pale-face’ 
of  her  own  sex  traveling  westward  in  the  white-covered  wagons, 

‘  prairie  schooners,’  to  the  country  of  shining  gold  or  the  Mecca  of  the 
Mormon  across  the  prairie  land,  then  sole  property  of  the  ’mahas  less 
than  2,000  strong,  where  now  stands  Omaha,  the  home  of  140,000 
‘  pale-faces.’ 

‘‘The  first  white  children,  therefore  born  in  Omaha,  have  little 
more  than  reached  the  age  when  they  may  impress  themselves  upon 
their  environments.  The  pioneers,  the  mothers  of  these  children, 
put  forth  every  energy  to  make,  with  the  primitive  and  inade¬ 
quate  means  at  hand,  a  home  life  and  educational  surroundings, 
which  should  give  these  first  children  the  opportunities  their  parents 
had  enjoyed  in  older  states.  The  first  teacher  was  a  woman;  at  the 
present  day,  thirty-five  of  the  thirty-eight  principals  in  public  schools 
are  women.  Of  women  in  philanthropic  work,  there  are  so  many 
that  it  is  best  to  specify  but  two  whose  entire  life  is  given  to  it,  Mrs. 
J.  B.  Jardine,  and  Mrs.  G.  W.  Clark.  Of  women  physicians,  seven 
are  in  active  and  successful  practice.  In  literary  and  journalistic 
work  may  be  mentioned  Mrs.  Elia  W.  Peattie,  on  the  editorial  staff, 
of  the  Omaha  Word-Herald,  and  other  associate  women  editors. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


423 


Many  artists  and  musicians  of  high  merit  are  also  to  be  found  among 
Omaha  women.” 

Mrs.  H.  G.  Toler  furnishes  the  following  account  of  the  wife  of  a 
Kansas  pioneer: 

“A  few  years  ago,  there  died  at  Wichita,  Kas.,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Matthewson,  wife  of  the  ‘  real  ’  Buffalo  Bill.  Mrs.  Matthewson, 
was  the  first  white  woman  who  crossed  the  Arkansas  River  and  went 
through  the  Indian  Territory.  She  came  to  Kansas  in  i860,  and 
took  up  a  claim  within  half  a  mile  of  the  original  town-site  of 
Wichita,  on  which  still  stands  the  humble  cabin  of  her  first  home. 
She  married  in  1864,  Mr.  William  Matthewson,  who  was  Indian 
trader  and  chief  of  the  scouts  for  the  United  States  troops,  fighting 
the  Indians,  who  at  that  time  swarmed  over  the  plains.  With  him 
she  shared  the  dangers  incident  to  his  hazardous  life.  She  became 
an  expert  with  the  rifle  and  revolver,  and  on  more  than  one  occasion 
stood  by  her  husband’s  side  and  helped  him  beat  back  the  savage 
foe.  At  Walnut  Creek  she  became  a  favorite  and  successful  trader 
with  the  Indians,  who  called  her  ‘  Marr  Wissi,’  or  ‘Golden  Hair,’ 
while  her  husband  was  called,  ‘Silpah  Sinpah,’  the  ‘Long-beard 
and  Dangerous  Man,  ’  whom  they  both  feared  and  admired.  ’  ’ 

The  following,  referring  to  Mrs.  Mary  Bolling-Faulds,  appeared 
in  a  London  letter  to  the  Philadelphia  Evening  Telegraph.  The 
writer  is  Miss  Ethel  Morell-Mackenzie,  a  daughter  of  Sir  Morell 
Mackenzie,  the  physician  to  the  late  Emperor  of  Germany.  Miss 
Mackenzie  writes: 

“  Great  excitement  has  been  caused  here  in  the  ceramic  world 
lately  by  the  visit  of  Mrs.  David  Faulds,  better  known  as  the  head  of  v 
the  house  of  R.  R.  Bolling,  of  Louisville,  for  she  is  the  first  woman 
who  has  visited  England  for  the  purpose  of  buying  china  profession¬ 
ally.  Her  visit  ought  to  give  a  new  impetus  to  the  work  of  finding 
employment  for  ladies,  for  now  that  we  are  beginning  to  realize  that 
in  the  United  Kingdom  there  are  nearly  1,000,000  more  women  than 
men,  we  must  begin  to  feel  that  it  is  necessary  to  put  our  shoulders 
to  the  wheel. 

Mrs.  Faulds  has  given  English  women  a  new  idea  to  work  out,  for 
besides  the  passion  for  rare  porcelain,  which  is  so  common  amongst 
ladies,  the  china  trade  is  one  which  is  pleasant  and  clean,  the  last 


424 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


advantage  being  a  very  important  one.  Besides,  the  romantic  and 
interesting  history  of  this  little  American  lady  will  help  to  give  cour¬ 
age  to  those  whose  hearts  are  failing  for  want  of  money,  or  the 
means  to  obtain  it.  The  position  which  the  head  of  the  house  of 
Bolling  occupies,  has  been  won  by  energy,  hard  work,  and  highly 
artistic  feeling.  Married  at  sixteen  to  Col.  R.  R.  Bolling,  clerk  of 
the  Court  of  Appeals,  no  thought  of  ever  having  to  make  money  by 
her  own  efforts  had  ever  entered  her  head.  After  more  than  eight 
years,  the  Administration  changing,  Col.  Bolling  lost  his  office,  and 
established  the  firm  which  bears  his  name,  which  had  then  quite  a 
different  kind  of  business  from  that  for  which  it  is  now  famous,  being, 
in  fact,  a  printer  of  legal  and  official  books  and  blank  forms.  Sud¬ 
denly,  however,  the  Colonel  was  stricken  down  with  that  most  awful 
of  diseases,  cancer,  and  in  order  to  obtain  for  him  the  best  advice 
and  every  luxury,  his  wife  found  herself  thrown  on  her  own  resources, 
in  spite  of  the  offers  of  help  from  relations  and  friends,  none  of  which 
she  could  be  persuaded  to  accept. 

Acting  under  the  advice  of  Mr.  William  C.  Prime,  a  celebrated 
authority  and  author  of  Pottery  and  Porcelain,  she  commenced 
the  study  of  china,  and  founded  the  bric-a-brac  shop  which  is 
now  so  well  known  through  the  States,  and  still  keeping  on  the 
work  of  her  husband  after  his  death,  she  found  her  only  distraction 
in  the  cares  of  business. 

As  time  went  on  this  determined  lady  became  so  thoroughly 
mistress  of  the  subject  she  studied,  that  during  her  visit  here, 
in  1882,  she  was  able  to  give  the  manufacturers  many  useful  hints, 
and  much  of  the  china  for  which  she  gave  large  orders,  was  executed 
after  suggestions  by  herself. 

In  1885  she  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  David  Faulds,  and  made  up 
her  mind  that  now  at  length  R.  R.  Bolling  should  disappear  from 
the  commercial  world  and  become  a  thing  of  the  past.  But  this  was 
not  yet  to  be,  and  having  been  the  ministering  saint  of  her  first 
husband,  she  became  the  guardian  angel  of  her  second.  A  few 
months  after  her  marriage  it  became  evident  that  Mr.  Fauld’s 
business  was  in  danger  of  being  overwhelmed  by  serious  financial 
troubles.  Without  a  word  to  any  one,  and  absolutely  unknown  to 
her  husband,  Mrs.  Faulds  interviewed  his  creditors,  and  took  upon 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


425 


her  shoulders  the  whole  of  his  responsibilities,  saving  his  business 
from  shipwreck  and  galvanizing  it  once  more  into  a  very  flourishing 
condition. 

The  story  of  this  lady,  who,  ignorant  as  she  was  originally 
of  mercantile  affairs,  without  ever  borrowing  a  cent,  has  built  up  the 
house  of  Bolling,  does  not  need  for  me  to  ‘point  a  moral,’  to  those 
wives,  who,  on  the  failure  of  their  ‘Gude  mon's'  undertakings,  sit 
down  and  bemoan  his  loss,  instead  of  pondering  how  they  may 
best  help  him  to  retrieve  it:  indeed,  her  brave  example  ought  to  be 
a  help  to  all  women  compelled  to  fight  their  own  way  in  this  world, 
where  hard  work  and  ceaseless  energy  constitute  the  only  sure  road 
to  success.” 

After  the  recent  death  of  this  heroic  and  successful  woman  another 
friend  pens  the  following  tribute  to  her  memory. 

“  A  true  heroine  was  she.  And  her’s  was  not  the  airy  heroism  of 
romance,  but  rather  the  practical  heroism  of  ceaseless  dilligence  in 
the  presence  of  a  labyrinth  of  toil,  the  heroism  of  Spartan  courage 
under  the  fire  of  an  army  of  work-a-day  cares.  A  woman  against 
the  world.  That  was  her  battle.  And  you  of  her  own  sex  who 
have  fought  the  fight,  must  know  that  she  was  twice  a  conqueror, 
to  have  won  her  way  up  the  hill  to  success,  maintaining  the  while 
the  gentleness  of  femininity  and  the  charm  of  ladyhood.  She  had  the 
valor  of  industry  and  the  enthusiasm  of  hope.  She  was  brave, 
honest  and  gentle,  a  woman  among  women,— a  lady  among  ladies. 
Peace  be  to  your  ashes,  brave  little  woman !  Rest  was  never  yours 
on  earth,  but  in  the  better  land  beyond  surely  there  must  be  peace 
and  quiet  and  eternal  happiness  for  such  as  you!  ” 

Miss  Caroline  A.  Huling,  vice-president  of  “  The  Woman’s  Bak¬ 
ing  Company,”  of  Chicago,  which  is  carrying  on  an  extensive  busi¬ 
ness,  and  was  organized  by  women,  and  is  entirely  owned  and 
managed  by  them;  thus  writes  regarding  working  women: 

“The day  has  gone  by  into  the  dim  vista  of  the  past  when  idle¬ 
ness  was  considered  a  virtue  in  woman.  There  has  been  in  existence 
a  popular  fiction  that  the  ‘  ‘  weaker  ’  ’  sex  must  be  supported  and 
tenderly  sheltered  from  all  cares.  The  fallacy  of  this  theory  is 
amply  proven  by  a  consideration  of  facts.  Nowadays  every  woman 
recognizes  her  duty,  and  has  something  to  occupy  her  mind.  Labor 


426 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


is  honorable,  and  one  of  the  important  lessons  of  the  great  Fair  is  to 
accentuate  our  part  in  the  world’s  work.  Household  duties  in  her 
own  home  have  been  supposed  to  be  the  only  proper  things  t.o  em¬ 
ploy  woman’s  time  and  energy;  but  in  the  dawn  of  this  new  era, 
woman  cayi  do  what  she  wills  to  do.  The  world  belongs  to  her  who 
claims  her  birthright.” 

Two  women  in  America  have  achieved  national  fame,  on  account 
of  their  successful  financial  careers.  We  give  brief  sketches  of  Mrs. 
Matilda  B.  Carse,  and  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie.  Regarding  the  achieve¬ 
ments  of  Mrs.  Carse  I  have  been  able  to  collect  the  following. 

Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse,  philanthropist,  temperance  worker  and 
financier  is  of  Scotch-Irish  origin.  She  has  lived  almost  continually 
in  Chicago  since  1858.  Her  husband,  Thomas  Carse,  was  a  railroad 
manager  in  Louisville,  Ky.  during  the  Civil  War.  In  1869  they 
went  abroad  for  the  benefit  of  Mr.  Carse’ s  health.  He  died  in  Paris, 
France,  in  June,  1870  leaving  Mrs.  Carse  with  three  boys  under  seven 
years  of  age.  The  youngest  of  these  while  in  Paris  had  a  fall,  which 
developed  hip  disease:  he  had  almost  recovered  his  health,  when  in 
June,  1874,  in  Chicago  he  was  run  over  by  a  wagon  driven  by  a 
drunken  German,  and  instantly  killed.  His  tragic  death  caused  his 
mother  to  devote  her  life  to  the  alleviation  of  the  poor  and  suffering, 
especially  among  children.  She  also  at  this  time  registered  a  vow, 
that  until  the  last  hour  of  her  life,  she  would  devote  every  power  she 
was  possessed  with  to  annihilate  the  liquor  traffic,  and  with  a  persist¬ 
ency  never  surpassed  has  bravely  kept  her  word.  She  early  became 
prominent  in  temperance  work,  and  has  been  president  of  the  Chi¬ 
cago  Central  Woman’s  Christian  Union  since  1878. 

This  Union  is  one  of  the  most  active  in  the  country,  and  supports 
more  charities  than  any  other.  To  Mrs.  Carse  is  due  the  credit  of 
establishing  under  the  auspices  of  her  Union,  the  first  creche,  or  day 
nursery  in  Chicago,  known  as  the  Bethesda  Day  Nursery.  This  was 
followed  in  a  year,  or  two  by  the  establishment,  through  her  efforts, 
of  a  second,  known  as  the  Talcott  Day  Nursery.  Besides  these  nur¬ 
series  the  Union  supports  two  kindergartens  among  the  very  poorest 
class;  two  gospel  temperance  meetings  that  are  nightly  attended  by 
crowds  of  intemperate  men,  seeking  to  be  saved  from  themselves; 
two  Sunday-schools;  the  Anchorage  Mission,  a  home  for  erring  girls 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


427 


who  have  only  taken  the  first  step  in  wrong  doing,  and  desire  to  re¬ 
turn  to  a  pure  life;  a  reading  room  for  men;  two  dispensaries  for  the 
poor;  two  Industrial  Schools  and  three  Mother’s  Meetings. 

These  charities  are  supported  at  a  cost  of  over  $ 10,000  yearly. 
Mrs.  Carse  personally  raises  almost  the  entire  amount. 

In  1879  she  was  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  an  organiza¬ 
tion  of  such  magnitude  as  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union 
should  have  a  large  weekly  paper  to  properly  represent  it.  Its  only 
organ  at  this  time  was  Our  Union ,  a  four  page  monthly  paper.  The 
following  year  she  founded  the  Woman’s  Temperance  Publishing  As¬ 
sociation,  and  January,  1880,  the  first  number  of  The  Signal  was 
published,  a  large  sixteen  page  weekly  paper.  Two  years  later  Our 
Union  was  merged  with  it,  and  it  became  the  national  organ  of  the 
society,  The  Union  Signal.  It  has  an  immense  circulation,  and 
is  read  by  at  least  half  a  million  of  persons  every  week. 

To  Mrs.  Carse  is  also  due  the  credit  of  starting  the  first  stock  com¬ 
pany  entirely  composed  of  women,  as  no  man  can  own  stock  in  the 
Woman’s  Temperance  Publishing  Company.  She  started  it  with  a 
capital  stock  of  $5,000,  which  has  been  increased  to  $125,000;  from 
having  but  one  paid  employ6  it  now  has  135  persons  on  its  pay-roll. 
The  Association  owns  all  its  own  presses  which  turn  out  millions  of 
pages  of  temperance  literature  every  year.  Its  receipts  for  1891 
were  $250,000.  It  has  paid  a  handsome  dividend  to  its  stockholders 
for  the  last  eight  years.  Mrs.  Carse  has  been  the  president  and 
financial  backer  of  the  Association  since  its  first  inception.  In  1885 
she  began  planning  for  the  great  building,  the  Woman’s  Temper¬ 
ance  Temple  of  Chicago,  the  National  headquarters  of  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  though  only  just  completed  has 
attained  a  national  celebrity,  and  is  considered  by  those  who  are 
judges  the  most  beautiful  office  building  in  America,  architecturally, 
as  well  as  in  its  artistic  interior.  The  ground  is  valued  at  $1,000,- 
000.  The  building  cost  $1,200,000.  The  rentals  from  the  building 
will  bring  in  an  annual  income  of  over  $200,000.  The  capital  stock 
is  $600,000,  one-half  of  which  is  now  owned  by  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union.  Mrs.  Carse  is  using  her  utmost  en¬ 
deavor  to  secure  the  entire  ownership  of  the  stock  for  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  before  the  dedication  of  the  building. 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


428 

Mrs.  Carse  is  also  president  and  founder  of  the  Woman’s  Dormi¬ 
tory  Association  of  the  Columbian  Exposition,  which  has  been 
established  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  dormitories  for  the  accommo¬ 
dation  of  working  women  who  attend  the  Exposition,  affording  them 
clean  and  comfortable  rooms  at  the  rate  of  forty  cents  a  day.  Build¬ 
ings  sufficient  to  accommodate  5,000  persons  daily  are  about  to  be 
erected  at  a  cost  with  furnishings,  of  $150,000.  This  work  she  does 
in  connection  with  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  of  the  World’s  Col¬ 
umbian  Exposition,  of  which  she  is  a  member. 

She  was  the  first  woman  in  Cook  County  to  be  appointed  on  the 
School  Board  where  she  served  a  term  of  years  with  great  accepta¬ 
bility.  Her  name  appears  on  several  charitable  Boards  as  a  Director. 
For  years  she  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  the  Home  for  Dis¬ 
charged  Prisoners.  She  is  also  on  the  Free  Kindergarten  Board, 
and  she  is  a  member  of  the  Woman’s  Club  of  Chicago. 

In  all  the  wide  range  of  charities  to  which  she  has  given  active 
help  the  one  that  probably  lies  nearest  her  heart,  and  to  which  she 
has  given  a  stronger  hand  of  aid  than  to  any  other,  helping  to  raise 
for  its  buildings  and  maintainence  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars,  is  the 
Chicago  Foundlings  Home,  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  E.  Shipman,  being 
its  founder.  She  established  its  Aid  Society,  and  has  been  its  presi¬ 
dent  for  many  years. 

Concerning  the  Temperance  Temple,  the  following  letter  irom 
Mrs.  Carse  gives  the  history  of  that  enterprise  in  a  manner  which 
tells  the  story  far  more  vividly  than  any  other  description  of  the  work 
could  convey. 


LETTER  FROM  MRS.  CARSE. 

Chicago,  Jan.  23,  1891. 

Dear  White-Ribboners: — I  am  requested  to  send  you  a  per¬ 
sonal  letter  in  regard  to  the  history  and  present  status  of  the  Temper¬ 
ance  Temple.  If  I  say  some  things  I  have  said  before,  I  trust  I  may 
be  pardoned,  as  history,  if  truthful,  can  not  vary  much.  It  was  in 
1883  that  I  first  commenced  thinking  about  the  erection  of  a  great 
temperance  building.  The  National  headquarters  of  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.  had  been  removed  from  New  York  to  the  more  central  city  of  the 
nation,  Chicago;  and  I  felt  that  here  was  the  place  for  a  beautiful 
temple,  different  from  any  the  world  had  ever  seen,  fitted  for  the 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


429 


needs  of  the  age,  uniting  beauty  and  utility;  a  great  building,  within 
whose  ample  walls  a  quiet,  retired,  holy  place  could  be  found  where 
devout  souls  who  mourn  over  the  immorality  and  intemperance  of 
the  world  could  meet  and  supplicate  God  daily  to  save  the  nation’s 
homes.  It  would  also  be  the  headquarters  of  the  largest  organiza¬ 
tion  of  women  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Besides  all  this  it  must  be  a 
humming  hive  of  business;  from  its  rentals  would  be  realized  a 
princely  income — not  to  go  into  the  pockets  of  the  rich  to  make  them 
richer,  but  to  be  expended  in  educating  the  land  in  temperance  and 
righteousness.  Moreover,  this  beautiful  temple  should  be  the  gift 
largely  of  women  and  little  children — a  gift  which  they  would  lovingly 
lay  at  the  feet  of  Him  who  is  woman’s  great  emancipator,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Daily  the  plan  unfolded  and  grew;  it  became  my 
thought  by  day  and  my  dream  by  night.  I  became  conscious,  as 
conscious  as  if  a  voice  from  the  heavens  had  announced  it,  that  I  was 
to  undertake  the  erection  of  such  a  building.  A  wonderful  baptism 
of  faith  seemed  granted  me.  I  became  possessed  with  the  thought 
that  death  could  not  overtake  me  until  the  building  was  erected,  un¬ 
til  the  work  my  Father  had  given  me  to  do  was  accomplished.  So 
strong  was  I  in  this  belief  that  if  all  the  world  had  said  it  could  not 
be  done,  I  would  have  gone  on  just  the  same. 

I  went  to  our  National  President,  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard,  who  is 
always  ready  for  the  next  thing;  a  woman  whose  vision  is  so  keen,  so 
intuitive,  so  spiritual,  that  she  sees  with  prophetic  eye  what  the  com¬ 
ing  century  will  bring,  almost  with  as  much  clearness  as  she  knows 
what  the  past  one  has  unfolded.  I  told  her  of  the  pattern  the  Lord 
had  given  me  of  a  new  temple  for  the  twentieth  century;  that  I  had 
heard  His  voice  saying  to  the  temperance  women  of  the  nation, 
“  The  set  time  has  come,  arise  and  build.’  ”  She  entered  heartily 
into  the  plan,  and  the  first  article  on  the  temple  ever  written  for  pub¬ 
lication  was  written  by  her,  and  printed  in  The  Union  Signal  of  July 
22,  1887. 

Do  not  imagine  that  I  merely  sat  down  and  dreamed  over  the 
erection  of  such  a  building.  Nothing  of  the  kind.  I  consulted 
with  architects,  real  estate  dealers  and  well-known  reliable  business 
men,  who  had  made  a  success  of  erecting  large  office  buildings.  I 
unfolded  to  them  my  plan  of  raising  money  for  the  building.  They 
assured  me  it  would  be  a  success  if  I  could  raise  the  money  as  I 
proposed.  It  was  five  years  from  the  time  the  plan  was  first  given 
me  until  it  crystallized  into  an  incorporated  company,  July  13,  1887. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Temple  was  laid  with  unique  and  im¬ 
pressive  ceremonies,  November  1,  1890.  It  was  a  consummation  I 
had  long  looked  forward  to  with  desire  unutterable.  Mountain  on 
mountain  of  difficulty  God  had  removed  to  allow  the  plan  to  culmin¬ 
ate  as  it  did  November  first. 


430 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Work  upon  the  building  is  going  steadily  forward.  Every  stone 
in  it  seems  to  me  to  be  an  answered  prayer.  It  gives  promise  of 
great  solidity  and  beauty.  Those  who  know,  say  it  will  be  the  most 
beautiful  building  of  the  kind  in  America. 

Yours  for  the  building  of  the  Temple, 

Matilda  B.  Carse. 

The  following  brief  sketch  of  the  remarkable  career  of  Mrs. 
Frank  Leslie  has  been  reprinted  from  the  New  York  Graphic  of 
1888.  Her  wonderful  success  in  the  face  of  seemingly  insurmount¬ 
able  obstacles,  furnishes  an  inspiring  example  for  other  women  con¬ 
fronted  by  similar  unforseen  misfortunes: 

THE  STORY  OF  A  WOMAN  OF  BUSINESS. 

,  This  is  the  story  of  a  beautiful  woman  of  business.  It  is  the  tale 
of  a  rich  woman  who  inherited  only  debts  and  an  opportunity.  In 
six  years  she  has  paid  the  debts  and  made  a  gold  mine  of  the  op¬ 
portunity.  Her  name  is  Frank  Leslie,  and  she  is  the  widow  and 
successor  of  the  man  who  founded  the  great  publishing  house  of 
Frank  Leslie.  It  was  not  enough  to  found  this  house.  It  must  be 
perpetuated.  So  Frank  Leslie  married  his  wife,  and  of  all  the 
world  he  alone  understood  the  full  significance  of  his  marriage.  She 
was  to  set  up  the  monument  he  died  in  raising.  His  last  words  to 
his  wife  were:  “  Go  to  my  office,  sit  in  my  place  and  do  my  work 
till  my  debts  are  paid.”  She  did  more.  She  made  her  fortune. 

At  the  Old  Guard  ball  last  February  a  striking-looking  woman  in 
a  proscenium-box  excited  universal  attention.  New  Yorkers  pointed 
her  out  with  a  sort  of  brotherly  pride.  Of  medium  height  and  per¬ 
fect  figure;  a  shapely  head  above  a  full,  white  throat  and  arched 
neck,  the  head  crowned  with  tawny  hair  and  studded  with  big  sap¬ 
phires  for  eyes;  a  firm  yet  mobile  mouth  that  showed  pearls  between 
her  lips  matching  the  diamonds  in  her  ears;  in  a  Worth  gown  of 
white  brocade  and  the  jewels  of  an  empress,  she  was  brilliantly  con¬ 
spicuous.  Very  much  of  a  woman,  clearly  enjoying  dresses  and 
diamonds  and  the  compliments  of  the  Generals  of  Brigade  who 
crowded  her  box;  without  doubt  fond  of  bonbons  and  bonnets;  with 
the  self-possession  of  one  who  knows  she  can't  do  wrong  in  the  eyes 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


431 


of  those  about  her.  A  stranger  would  have  been  charmed  with  her 
as  a  type  of  American  beauty  and  feminine  helplessness.  And  then 
looking  again,  catching  something  forceful  and  dominant  in  her  car¬ 
riage,  a  glimpse  of  the  thought  behind  the  laughter  in  her  eyes,  he 
would  have  accepted  without  question  the  statement  that  she  had 
purchased  that  day  2,700  tons  of  white  paper  for  use  in  her  business. 
It  was  Frank  Leslie. 

FACED  WITH  A  MIGHTY  TASK. 

Mrs.  Leslie  came  down  to  her  husband’s  office  the  day  after  his 
death,  and  black  care  perched  on  the  chair  behind  her.  No  one 
woman,  not  a  reigning  sovereign,  has  ever  been  called  to  face 
mightier  tasks.  Her  husband’s  affairs  were  in  the  hands  of  an  as¬ 
signee.  He  had  contracted  $300,000  of  debts  to  place  his  publishing 
business  on  a  paying  basis,  and  having  placed  it  there  he  died.  But 
not  before  he  had  been  forced  to  make  an  assignment  and  sacrifice 
all  he  had  to  meet  inexorable  demands.  The  creditors  had  agreed 
to  accept  the  discharge  of  their  debts  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  busi¬ 
ness.  Leslie’s  death  seemed  a  chance  to  absorb  the  business.  Only 
his  widow  and  heiress  stood  between  them,  and  what  they  saw  about 
to  become  a  magnificent  property.  And  her  position  was  insecure 
and  ambiguous  through  a  suit  that  had  been  instituted  to  break  her 
husband’s  will. 

It  was  an  odd  sort  of  heroine  to  step  into  such  a  breach  that  came 
down  to  the  deserted  office  on  that  Winter’s  morning.  A  woman 
inexperienced,  luxurious,  with  no  more  knowledge  of  saving  money 
than  of  making  it,  a  Louisiana  Creole,  of  French  extraction  by  birth, 
a  woman  of  society  by  habit,  of  letters  by  choice,  and  of  misfortune 
and  suffering  by  circumstances,  she  seemed  little  likely  to  withstand 
the  sinister  forces  against  her.  She  proved  to  be  a  sort  of  commer¬ 
cial  Joan  of  Arc.  With  nine  lawsuits  on  her  hands  she  found  time 
to  master  the  details  of  the  business.  The  respect  and  sympathy  of 
her  staff  grew  to  admiration. 

She  showed  herself  a  masterly  executive,  a  brilliant  news-gatherer, 
aud  an  inspiring  leader.  She  made  the  world  hear  of  her  and  buy 
her  magazines.  She  found  her  profits  in  her  economies.  She 


432 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


worked  from  eight  in  the  morning  till  eight  at  night,  and  the  days 
were  too  short  for  her  activities.  And  she  went  back  to  her  hard  bed 
in  her  carpetless  attic  chosen,  in  spite  of  her  big  revenue,  until  she 
should  have  paid  her  husband’s  creditors  to  the  uttermost. 

AN  EMERGENCY  WELL  MET. 

In  the  midst  of  her  struggles  came  a  sortie  from  the  enemy.  It 
was  sharp  and  bitter.  The  creditors  made  upon  her  what  they  con¬ 
ceived  to  be  an  impossible  demand.  Alarmed  at  the  energy,  self- 
reliance  and  enterprise  which  threatened  them  with  a  payment  of 
their  claims,  and  a  consequent  frustration  of  their  designs  on  the  busi¬ 
ness,  they  agreed  to  crush  her  by  a  single  blow.  They  called  for 
$50,000,  to  be  paid  in  ten  days,  on  penalty  of  forfeiture.  She  was 
in  a  terrible  position.  As  yet  she  had  no  standing  in  court.  She 
had  no  ready  money,  and  nothing  to  mortgage,  for  the  property  was 
still  in  the  hands  of  the  assignee.  She  knew  the  serious  danger,  the 
almost  hopelessness  of  her  position.  She  thought,  but  vainly. 
Dear  old  Dr.  Deems,  who  knew  of  her  troubles,  prayed.  And  then 
a  curious  thing  happened. 

A  boy  in  the  art  department  of  Frank  Leslie’s  publishing  house 
lived  in  Brooklyn,  and  among  his  acquaintances  was  a  rich  and 
charitable  woman  named  Eliza  Jane  Smith.  Frank  Leslie  had  given 
this  boy  his  chance,  and  he  felt  deeply  for  his  benefactor’s  widow. 
Suddenly  he  said  to  himself,  “Why  not  talk  it  over  with  Mrs. 
Smith?  ”  He  interested  his  friend.  She  called  on  Mrs.  Leslie;  she 
volunteered  to  lend  her  $50,000 — such  is  the  power  of  human  sym¬ 
pathy.  Mrs.  Leslie  had  five  years  in  which  to  pay  the  loan;  but  the 
first  installment  falling  due  on  November  1st,  she  paid  the  entire 
amount  with  interest  on  the  last  day  of  October — that  is  to  say,  in 
five  months — out  of  the  profits  of  the  business. 

And  this  is  not  a  page  out  of  a  child’s  story-book! 

Since  that  remarkable  incident  Mrs.  Leslie’s  career  has  been  one 
of  uninterrupted  prosperity.  She  has  built  up  a  magnificent  busi¬ 
ness,  and  her  income  is  fully  $100,000  a  year.  She  has  vindicated 
her  husband’s  confidence,  and  has  made  her  many  publications 
potent  influences  for  progress  and  enlightenment.  'With  no  fortune 
but  her  talent,  she  has  met  the  world  and  conquered  it.  She  is  very 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


433 


far  from  resting  on  her  laurels.  When  she  travels — and  she  has  been 
everywhere — she  gathers  material  for  work.  Some  of  her  cleverest 
letters  from  abroad  have  been  written  during  days  of  arduous  sight¬ 
seeing  and  nights  of  long  receptions.  In  London,  in  Paris,  in 
Rome,  in  Vienna,  in  Berlin,  in  Madrid,  she  is  still  at  home  and 
among  friends.  She  lives  when  in  New  York  at  123  West  39th 
street.  She  works  there  harder  than  ever,  writing  for  the  syndicates 
as  well  as  her  own  publications,  and  dressing  and  dining  and  playing 
my  Lady  Beautiful  through  it  all.  She  is  a  rare  instance  of  volun¬ 
tary  consecration  to  work.  She  has  money  enough  to  be  lazy — but 
her  enjoyment  of  life  doesn’t  come  in  that  way. 

HOW  SHE  HAS  WON. 

How  has  she  done  it  all  ?  By  a  bold  and  decisive  mind,  the  au¬ 
dacity  of  genius,  tireless  energy  and  the  perfection  of  physique.  The 
child  Miriam  Florence  Folline  was  a  fragile  creature,  a  delicate 
Huguenot  exotic  in  the  French  quarter  of  New  Orleans.  The 
woman  Frank  Leslie — Frank  Leslie  by  order  of  the  Court  of  Com¬ 
mon  Pleas  that  the  name  might  be  preserved  in  law  as  well  as 
memory— is  the  perfection  of  physical  development.  By  the  exercise 
of  all  her  faculties,  physical  and  mental,  she  has  kept  her  whole 
nature  in  perfect  equilibrium.  Her  hand  writing  is  characteristic, 
the  characters  large,  the  strokes  firm  with  a  notable  upward  impulse, 
regular,  connected  and  flowing.  And  she  has  never  lost  an  intel¬ 
lectual  opportunity.  She  speaks  English,  French,  Spanish  and 
Italian  with  fluent  perfection,  besides  understanding  Latin.  She  has 
read  much  and  seen  more,  and  welded  into  her  own  originality  her 
studies  and  reflections  and  experiences.  Much  as  she  owes  to  nature 
she  owes  more  to  herself.  She  proves  that  genius  is  a  capacity  for 
hard  work;  that  significant  success  comes  like  the  onward-creeping 
dawn,  and  is  no  blast  of  heat-lightning.  Whatever  she  has  done,  too, 
she  has  done  as  a  woman,  in  a  womanly  way.  She  has  found  her 
sex  has  rights  enough  when  it  wants  to  employ  them. 

HER  SOCIAL  LIFE. 

Mrs.  Leslie’s  salon  is  one  of  the  institutions  of  the  town.  She  is 
the  Mme.  Adam  of  New  York.  At  them  you  meet  all  sorts  of 


434 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


people  worth  knowing  and  very  few  that  are  not  distinguished  for 
something  or  other.  She  gives  her  invitations  on  the  famous  receipt 
of  Mrs.  Jeune,  whom  not  to  know  in  London  is  to  argue  one’s  self 
unknown.  “Millions  for  amusement;  not  one  line  for  tribute!’’ 
Lots  of  nobs  and  noblemen  go  to  Mrs.  Jeune’ s,  but  they  must  be 
more  than  noblemen.  Plenty  of  society  people  are  to  be  found  at 
Mrs.  Leslie’s,  but  they  are  all  somebodies  outside  the  drawing-room. 

Mrs.  Leslie  is  great  as  a  hostess,  full  of  sympathy  and  tact  and 
bonhomie.  She  has  a  large  fund  of  good  stories,  and  doesn’t  have 
to  go  outside  her  own  experiences  for  their  subjects.  Since  she  has 
been  rich  and,  in  a  way,  public  property,  her  mail  has  brought  her 
daily  a  catalogue  of  almost  every  desire  flesh  is  heir  to.  These  pe¬ 
titions  she  delegates  to  her  secretaries,  and  sometimes  finds  people 
really  worth  relieving.  But  as  a  rule  worthy  objects  of  charity  don’t 
write  begging  letters.  It  goes  without  saying  that  she  has  all  in  the 
way  of  apartments,  horses,  wardrobe  appointments  suitable  to  a 
woman  of  her  artistic  tastes  and  full  purse. 

It  is  a  wonderful  story,  isn’t  it?  and  a  noble  woman  nobly 
planned  ’’  is  the  heroine. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 


QUEENS  OF  THE  SHOP,  THE  WORKROOM 


AND  THE  TENEMENT. 


BY  KATHARINE  PEARSON  WOODS.* 


Reprinted  by  the  permission  of  The  Cosmopolitan  and  author. 

“Queens  you  must  always  be;  queens  to  your  lovers,  queens  to  your  hus¬ 
bands  and  your  sons,  queens  of  higher  mystery  to  the  world  beyond,  which 
bows  itself  and  will  forever  bow,  before  the  myrtle  crown  and  stainless 
sceptre  of  womanhood.” — Ruskin. 

“As  the  unwise,  inequitable  and  defective  features  of  our  present  economic 
conditions  inevitably  tend  to  reduce  all  who  live  by  their  own  labor  to  debas¬ 
ing  poverty  and  dependence,  and  as  the  suffering  and  degradation  resulting 
from  this  system  bear  most  heavily  upon  women  who  support  themselves  by 
their  own  labor.  .  .  .  We  have  formed  the  Women’s  Society,  believing  that 
relief  and  rescue  for  those  women  now  oppressed  and  wronged  cannot  come 
without  their  united  effort  and  mutual  association.” — Preamble  to  the  Consti¬ 
tution  of  the  Working  Women’s  Society. 

O  enumerate  the  different  trades  by  which  the  women  in  New 


1  York  are  endeavoring — not  to  live — that  for  many  of  them  is  as 
utterly  unattainable  a  goal  as  the  end  of  the  rainbow — but  simply  to 
postpone  as  long  as  possible  their  appearance  at  the  morgue  or  the 
cemetery — to  attempt  to  do  this  would  be  useless.  Briefly  they  may 
be  divided  into  certain  broad  classes,  such  as  medicine,  literature, 
education,  manufactures  and  domestic  service.  Under  medicine  we 
include  the  lady  doctor  and  the  unskilled  hired  nurse;  under  litera¬ 
ture  we  shade  down  from  the  editor  or  fashionable  lioness,  through 
type-writers,  stenographers  and  compositors  to  the  book  stitchers 
and  folders,  and  the  gold-leaf  girl;  while  manufacture  covers  every¬ 
thing  from  silk-weaving  to  button-hole  making.  Now  in  all  these 


*  Author  of  “  Metzerott,  Shoemaker,”  “A  Web  of  Gold,”  etc. 


436 


THE  NA  TIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


trades  or  professions,  it  remains  emphatically  true,  that  there  is 
“  room  at  the  top.”  The  woman  of  exceptional  ability,  who  knows 
her  niche  in  life  and  climbs  upward  to  it  with  unflinching  courage 
and  unswerving  will,  usually  attains  it,  though  often  at  the  price  of 
treading  under  her  more  feeble  sisters.  The  editor  of  a  popular 
paper  or  magazine  does  not  often  quarrel  with  her  salary;  the  fashion¬ 
able  milliner  or  dressmaker  can  command  her  own  price;  the  lady 
professor  has  her  own  work  and  her  own  reward. 

But  queens  ? 

Which  is  correct,  Ruskin  or  the  Working  Woman’s  Society? 

To  the  credit  of  the  noble  profession  of  letters  let  it  be  spoken,  it 
knows  no  distinction  of  sex.  “  There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek, 
bond  nor  free,  male  nor  female,”  when  one  comes  within  sound  of 
a  printing-press,  chiefly  because  what  is  wanted  is  work  of  a  certain 
kind  and  grade,  and  also,  in  the  lower  ranks  of  the  profession,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  intelligence  and  strong  organization  of  the  Typographi¬ 
cal  Union,  which  admits  women  upon  exactly  the  same  footing  as 
men. 

Compositors  receive  on  an  average  $12.00  a  week;  their  work  is 
piece-work  entirely;  their  hours  are  comparatively  short,  and  the 
wages  in  almost  every  instance  sure. 

Stenographers  and  typewriters  have  often  a  hard  struggle  to  secure 
a  foothold;  they  have  unions,  but  they  are  rather  social  clubs  than 
trades-unions;  their  wages  run  from  $6.00  to  $8.00  a  week  up  to 
$12.00  and  even  $18.00;  their  success  usually  depends  upon  their 
own  business  ability,  and  they  receive  in  all  but  the  rarest  instances 
all  that  their  employers  agreed  to  pay  them. 

Education  is  considered  the  peculiar  business  of  women;  perhaps 
for  that  very  reason  it  is  one  of  the  worst-paid  businesses  in  the 
world;  the  salaries  of  men  who  engage  in  it  are  double  those  of  the 
women,  who  do  better  work  and  more  of  it. 

Into  the  servant-girl  question  we  shall  not  go  at  present;  it  would 
in  itself  require  a  volume;  and  there  remains  therefore  the  one 
department  of  manufactures. 

Among  these  there  are  four  trades  which  are  injurious — that 
is  a  weak  word — but  murderous  to  women.  They  are  artificial 
flower-making,  cigar  or  cigarette  making,  working  on  ostrich 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


437 


feathers  and  sewing  in  all  its  forms.  I  may  also  mention  the  girls 
who  work  in  soap  factories,  and  whose  business  it  is  to  wrap  the 
separate  cakes,  while  hot,  in  paper.  The  caustic  soda  used  in  the 
manufacture  first  turns  their  nails  yellow,  then  eats  away  the  ends  of 
their  fingers.  There  seems  no  way  to  help  this,  as  the  deftness  of 
touch  required  would  be  of  course  impossible  if  the  workers  wore 
gloves.  It  is  indeed  only  possible  to  any  given  set  of  workers  for  a 
very  short  time,  but  there  are  always  plenty  to  take  their  places 
when  they  drop  out,  and  though  one  wonders  sometimes  what 
becomes  of  them  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any  answer.  A  machine 
which  should  wrap  the  soap  and  save  their  fingers  would  also  throw 
the  majority  of  them  out  of  employment,  and  they  would  probably 
Bitterly  oppose  its  introduction. 

The  arsenic  used  in  making  artificial  flowers  is,  in  about  two 
years,  almost  invariably  fatal  to  the  workers,  who  exhibit  all  the 
symptoms  of  arsenical  poisoning — sores  on  the  face  and  hands, 
swelling  of  the  limbs,  finally  nausea  and  convulsions.  Arsenic  is, 
however,  about  the  cheapest  dye  that  can  be  used. 

Workers  in  tobacco  suffer  from  nicotine  poisoning,  which  kills  in 
a  less  repulsive  manner  but  no  less  surely;  and  the  feather  workers 
suffer  also  from  poisonous  dyes  used  in  the  manufacture;  the 
slightest  prick  of  a  finger  with  the  needle  allows  the  dye  to  mingle 
with  the  blood. 

The  mention  of  the  needle,  that  ancient  emblem  of  womanhood, 
brings  us  to  sewing  women  of  all  grades;  cloak  makers,  shirt 
makers,  everything  makers.  At  first  glance  this  trade  seems 
healthful  enough,  and  so  indeed,  in  itself  it  is.  And  it  is  so 
pleasant,  so  thoroughly  womanly,  to  sew;  there  are  so  many  bright 
fancies  stitched  into  the  work  or  evolved  by  the  whir  of  the  sewing 
machine. 

It  seems  inhumanly  cruel,  therefore,  to  make  this  special  trade  the 
means  of  the  most  grinding  oppression  that  can  be  or  is  practised 
upon  women. 

But  why  should  one  trouble  to  write  about  this  class  of  workers, 
or  indeed  any  class  ?  What  good  does  it  do  ? 

“Yes,”  said  one  woman  with  whom  I  spoke,  “there  was  a  lady 
around  here  about  three  years  ago  asking  the  same  questions,  but  it 
didn’t  help  nobody.” 


438 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


“  No,  I  suppose  not,”  I  said. 

“  Then  why  do  they  ask  them  ?  ”  she  returned  with  absolute  jus¬ 
tice.  This  woman  was  out  of  work,  but  better  off  than  some,  inas¬ 
much  as  she  had  neither  husband  nor  children  to  support.  She  has 
worked  hard  all  her  life  and  is  now  past  middle  age,  thin  and  worn, 
with  a  face  of  quiet  hopelessness  and  long,  thin,  pathetic  hands. 

She  is  a  very  fair  specimen  of  the  American  working  woman,  the 
development  of  the  girl  who  came  to  the  city  full  of  hope  and  energy 
to  ‘‘get  work.”  She  has  been  told  that  industry  and  economy  are 
the  high  road  to  wealth,  but  she  does  not  aim  at  wealth,  only  to  lay 
by  a  little  against  a  rainy  day.  So  she  hires  a  furnished  room  and 
does  her  own  cooking — Heaven  save  the  mark! — a  cup  of  very 
strong  tea  and  baker’s  bread!  Upon  this,  with  sometimes  a  ‘‘relish,” 
she  makes  two  meals  a  day;  and  she  works  twelve,  fourteen,  sixteen, 
eighteen  hours.  Consequently  when  youth  leaves  her,  which  it  does 
very  speedily,  health  goes  with  it;  she  has  no  reserve  force  of  vitality 
to  draw  upon,  for  overwork  and  underfeeding  have  exhausted  that 
as  she  went  along;  she  drops  out  of  the  ranks  and  goes — where? 
God  knows;  may  He  help  her! 

The  woman  of  whom  I  have  spoken  is  or  was  a  cloak-maker.  “I 
make  the  cloak,”  she  said,  ‘‘all  but  the  machine  stitching  and 
pressing;  yes,  madam,  buttonholes  and  all.  If  I’m  kep’  busy  all  the 
time,  and  no  delays,  I  can  make  six  dollars  a  week,  but  there’s 
many  delays.  The  boss,  he  says:  ‘Now  I’ll  give  you  a  dollar 
and  forty  cents  or  a  dollar  and  fifty  cents  for  that  jacket,’  he 
says,  ‘or  that  plush  coat,’  and  that  doesn’t  sound  bad.  But  udien 
I  baste  it  together  and  send  it  to  be  stitched,  the  stitcher’s 
work  is  ahead  of  mine,  and  I  must  wait  half  an  hour  or  an  hour 
to  get  it  back  again,  for  I’ve  no  other  coat  to  work  on  between 
whiles.  Then  when  I’ve  done  it  all  there’s  maybe  no  more  work 
ready,  and  I  wait — I’ve  wraited  as  much  as  three  days — to  get  some 
more,  and  then  been  told  there  was  no  more  for  me.  And  the  fore¬ 
lady  she  can  be  very  ugly  when  she  likes;  if  she  has  a  spite  on  you 
she  gives  you  work  you  don’t  like,  and  if  you  name  it  to  her,  ‘  You 
can  go,’  she  says.  It’s  them  Eyetalians  that  spoils  everything, ”  she 
went  on ;  1  ‘  they  come  over  here  and  they’  11  work  for  next  to  no  wages 
at  all;  an  Eyetalian  can  live  on  ten  cents  a  day,  and  no  American 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


439 


can  do  that;  and  they  can  run  the  machine  faster  than  a  woman.” 
‘‘Them  Eyetalians,”  and  Polish  Jews  seem  to  be  the  bane  of  the 
clothing  trade  from  the  worker’s  side.  In  the  department  of  ladies’ 
cloaks  as  of  men’s  clothing,  they  reign  supreme,  and  male  foreigners 
are  taking  the  places  of  American  women  because  they  work  cheaper, 
or  by  reason  of  their  greater  muscular  strength,  more  rapidly.  There 
are  1,200  women  tailors  in  New  York  working  on  men’s  clothing. 
These  work  from  5  or  5.30  a.  m.  until  7  and  8  o’clock  p.  m.  The 
male  worker  receives  eighteen  dollars  a  week,  and  is  expected  to 
stitch  up  from  twelve  to  fourteen  coats  a  day;  the  woman  finishes 
the  same  number  and  receives  six  dollars  a  week.  That  limit  of  six 
dollars  is  one  which  it  seems  almost  impossible  to  overpass.  She 
who  can  count  upon  it  is  considered  fairly  well  off;  nine  dollars  for 
the  very  few  who  attain  it  is  absolute  wealth. 

Dressmaking  is  also  a  favorite  industry  with  Italians.  Almost  any 
morning  upon  Broadway  one  may  see  one  or  two  Italian  women, 
bowed,  miserable,  and  filthy,  each  of  whom  carries  upon  her  head  a 
bundle  about  ten  feet  long,  four  or  five  broad,  and  of  the  same 
thickness.  My  own  first  expression  regarding  this  sight  was,  ‘  ‘  What 
a  bundle  of  rags!”  But  they  are  costly  rags.  She  has  received 
them  from  a  fashionable  clothing  house,  and  she  is  carrying  them 
home  to  the  tenement  where  she  resides.  Here,  amid  filth  and  ver¬ 
min  inconceivable  they  are  made  into  robes  of  the  latest  style,  re¬ 
turned  to  the  factory  to  be  draped,  and  then  may  be  seen  behind  the 
.plate-glass  windows  of  up-town  stores.  Some  idea  of  the  risk  run  by 
this  method  of  manufacture  may  perhaps  be  gained  from  the  fact  that 
foremen  and  ‘‘foreladies,”  who  come  in  contact  with  these  workers 
bring  home  living  remembrances  to  their  up-town  boarding-houses. 
The  prices  for  which  these  Italians  work  and  to  which  they  are  lower¬ 
ing  or  have  lowered  the  wages  of  all  the  trade  may  be  estimated 
from  one  instance.  They  make  ladies’  tea-gowns,  except  the  button¬ 
holes,  for  $1.50  a  dozen. 

Shirt-making  has  had  a  bad  name  as  an  industry  since  Hood  wrote 
his  Song  of  the  Shirt;  nor  does  the  invention  of  the  sewing  machine 
appear  to  have  benefited  the  worker.  In  this  trade  the  average  earn¬ 
ings  are  about  $4.00  a  week;  some  make  even  less,  others  more. 
About  five  years  ago,  I  am  told,  the  average  wages  were  about  $8.00; 


440 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


but  within  five  months  there  were  three  reductions.  The  first 
workers — at  least  those  in  one  particular  factory — took  without  re¬ 
belling,  at  the  second  they  murmured,  at  the  third  they  struck. 
“We  were  not  organized,’’  one  of  them  said  to  me,  “  But  we  struck 
all  the  same,  and  organized  afterward.  Well,  they  held  out  for  a 
while  then  they  gave  us  one  half;  the  other  half  we  got  in  August 
without  asking.’’ 

“And  yet  wages  have  steadily  gone  down,’’  I  said.  “Because 
they  broke  up  our  organization,”  was  the  reply.  “  The  next  August 
they  closed  their  factory  on  purpose,  and  the  girls  being  thrown  out 
of  work  drifted  off  in  various  directions.  The  employers  did  it  to 
break  up  our  organization.”  “What  can  women  get  who  make 
shirts  that  retail  fifty  cents?  ”  I  said.  “  Oh!  those  are  made  in  re¬ 
formatories,”  was  the  reply. 

All  counters  of  cheap  underwear  are  supplied  from  reformatories. 
Not  long  ago  Mrs.  L.  M.  Barry,  well  known  as  a  Knight  of  Labor, 
and  defender  of  woman,  found  such  preternatural  bargains  at  W ana- 
maker’ s  in  Philadelphia,  that  she  determined  to  find  out  about  them. 
She  obtained  employment  as  a  machine  hand,  and  soon  found  out 
from  the  wages  paid  that  the  cheap  goods  were  not  of  home  manu¬ 
facture.  Further  inquiry  satisfied  her  that  they,  as  usual,  came  from 
reformatories.  Now,  there  is  no  reason  for  prejudice  against  prison 
or  reformatory  work  as  such,  for  in  respect  of  cleanliness  and  good 
sanitary  conditions  it  is  perferable  to  much  made  outside.  That  to 
which  the  unions  object  is  the  low  rate  at  which  the  work  is  con¬ 
tracted  for,  which  injures  those  within  the  prison  equally  with  those 
without. 

Shopgirls,  or  salesladies,  as  they  prefer  to  be  called!  Here  the 
great  evils  are  excessive  hours,  working  over  time  without  extra  pay, 
unwholesome  sanitary  conditions  and  excessive  fines. 

Just  here  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  speak  of  the  Working  Women’s 
Protective  Union,  No.  19  Clinton  Place,  whose  special  mission  it  is 
to  collect  wages  which  the  wrorker  cannot  collect  for  herself.  It  has 
been  in  operation  for  twenty-seven  years,  and  has  collected  in  that 
time  thousands  of  dollars’  worth  of  wages  due  without  one  cent  of 
cost  to  the  person  wronged.  But  fines  are  beyond  the  reach  of  even 
this  Union;  from  them  there  seems  no  redress,  though  upon  what 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


441 


principle  a  woman  who  receives  seven  dollars  a  week  is  fined  thirty 
cents  for  ten  minutes’  tardiness  I  confess  myself  unable  to  see. 
Seven  dollars  is  by  no  means  the  usual  wages  per  week,  which  range 
from  two  to  eighteen  dollars,  the  latter  to  a  girl  of  good  figure 
who  can  show  off  cloaks  in  the  cloak  department.  In  one  store  the 
fines  in  one  year  amounted  to  $3,000,  which  was  divided  between 
the  superintendent  and  the  time  keeper,  and  the  former  was  heard  to 
charge  the  latter  with  lack  of  strictness.  So  much  for  the  slave- 
drivers!  The  owners  also  have  their  pick  at  the  bones  of  the  slave; 
for  in  many  houses  employees  are  ei  pected  to  take  from  two  to  three 
weeks  holiday  in  the  dull  season  at  their  own  expense.  This  on  a 
.salary  of,  say,  three  dollars  a  week! 

Is  it  possible  to  live  pure,  upright  lives  under  such  conditions  ? 
Thank  God  it  is  possible,  as  is  attested  by  the  thousands  who  main¬ 
tain  their  integrity  in  spite  of  all  hindrances;  but  it  is  more  than  hard. 
It  has  been  well  said  that  while  men’s  wages  cannot  fall  below  the 
starvation  line,  woman’s  can,  since  the  paths  of  shame  are  always 
open  to  her.  This  is  a  terrible  factor  in  our  political  economy. 

Why  write  of  these  things  ?  Where  is  the  remedy  ?  God  help 
us  if  we  cannot  find  one!  for  the  souls  of  the  coming  generation  lie  in 
the  hands  of  these  women;  and  we  shall  never  be  the  people  we 
should  and  might  be  until  we  have  learned  that  it  is  the  first  and 
most  important  business  of  a  nation  to  protect  its  women,  not  by  any 
puling  sentimentality  of  queenship,  chivalry  or  angelhood,  but  by 
making  it  possible  for  them  to  earn  an  honest  living. 

For  this,  the  only  method  is  union  among  women;  the  best  hope 
is  in  the  women  themselves.  For  men,  hard  as  they  have  been  to 
women  workers,  are  now  being  driven  by  the  pressure  of  their  com¬ 
petition,  by  the  effect  which  women’s  low  rate  of  wages  has  had  upon 
theirs,  to  see  that  their  own  interest  demands  her  enfranchisement 
and  elevation.  The  unions  are  opening  to  her,  she  has  long  been 
‘  ‘  free  of  the  guild  ’  ’  among  the  Knights  of  Labor,  whose  preamble 
sets  forth  among  the  things  to  be  accomplished  by  organization: 
“  Equal  wages  for  equal  work,  without  regard  to  sex.”  The  newly- 
formed  clothing  unions  are  ready  to  welcome  her;  but  woman  shrinks 
back  from  organization,  Heaven  knows  why!  It  is  perhaps  because 
in  organization  one  finds  the  truest  freedom,  and  woman  has  been  a 


442 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


slave  too  long  to  know  what  freedom  means.  Then,  too,  we  are  so 
hard  upon  each  other — we  women;  it  is  so  difficult  to  make  us  trust 
one  another;  to  create  in  us  a  feeling  of  real  sisterhood.  And  our 
weakest  point  is  just  where  our  strongest  should  be;  it  is  in  those 
women  workers  who  have  found  or  made  a  standing-place  for  them¬ 
selves,  and  who  by  no  means  wish  to  be  classed  as  working  women. 
What  could  not  the  educated  workers  of  New  York  do  for  their 
struggling  sisters — teachers,  writers,  stenographers,  and  such  like? 
It  would  have  been  amusing  to  a  student  of  human  nature,  had  it  not 
been  so  infinitely  sad,  to  watch  the  look  of  scorn  which  rose  to  the 
surface  at  the  question,  “Can  you  give  me  any  points  about  your 
business?  I  am  studying  the  working  women  of  New  York.”  “  I 
know  nothing  about  working  women,”  came  the  quick,  short  answer. 

Some  of  the  things  that  might  be  done  are  shown  to  us  by  the  two 
societies  already  quoted.  The  Working  Women’s  Society  aims  to 
organize  women,  to  teach  them  the  strength  and  self-respect  that 
organization  brings. 

Among  its  remaining  aims  as  set  forth  in  the  preamble,  are  to  en¬ 
force  existing  laws  for  the  protection  of  women  and  children  in 
factories,  to  investigate  and  protest  against  all  violations  of  these 
laws,  and  to  promote  further  legislation  on  this  subject,  to  found  a 
labor  bureau,  and  to  secure  for  both  sexes  equal  pay  for  equal  work. 

On  May  6,  1890,  a  mass-meeting  was  held  at  Chickering  Hall  under 
the  auspices  of  this  society  and  over  100  clergymen.  “A  Report  on 
the  condition  of  Women  and  Children  in  the  New  York  retail  stores” 
was  read,  which  ought  to  have  caused  the  very  stones  to  cry  out.  A 
preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted,  and  it  was  attempted  to  start 
a  consumer’s  league,  the  members  of  which  should  pledge  themselves 
to  buy  at  only  such  stores  as  should  be  included  in  a  white  list — the 
obverse  of  a  boycott — there  could  be  no  possible  objection,  provided 
a  sufficient  number  of  stores  could  be  found  where  employees  are 
treated  fairly  well;  but  will  it  be  possible  to  find  consumers  enough 
to  found  the  league  ? 

Wealthy  women  of  New  York,  attention!  This  is  your  business. 
Will  you  give  up  your  bargain  counter — for  it  is  the  wealthy  who 
seek  bargain  counters — for  the  sake  of  your  suffering,  starving 
sisters  ? 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


443 


The  work  of  the  Protective  Union,  as  already  explained,  is  very 
different,  but  equally  useful.  It  would  seem  that  small  as  the  wages 
are,  it  is  a  mere  matter  of  course  that  the  workers  should  receive 
them  when  they  are  due;  but  whether  this  be  so  or  not  the  books  of 
the  union  abundantly  testify.  Some  methods  of  defrauding  an  em¬ 
ployee  it  has  almost  broken  up,  such,  for  example,  as  taking  girls  on 
trial  without  wages  to  learn  a  business,  and  when  they  asked  to  be 
paid,  turning  them  off  and  taking  on  a  new  set.  The  union  has 
taught  the  workers  to  demand  a  written  contract,  the  keeping  of 
which  it  stands  ready  to  enforce.  Against  other  wrongs  it  is  power¬ 
less,  but  this  of  violation  of  contract  it  sets  straight  with  all  its  might; 
its  scope  is  limited,  but  it  does  well  all  it  attempts  without  money 
and  without  price.  No  officer  is  allowed  to  receive  any  salary;  the 
lawyer  has  given  his  service  gratis  for  twenty-three  years;  each  case 
is  carefully  and  impartially  investigated,  and  if  the  money  is  due 
payment  is  enforced  if  there  is  any  property  to  levy  upon.  If  not, 
the  offender  may  be  imprisoned  for  fifteen  days  if  a  man;  if  a  woman 
there  is  no  redress— -a  bit  of  chivalry  on  the  part  of  the  law  which 
appears,  after  the  facts  we  have  been  considering,  exceedingly  ill- 
timed,  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  your  most  arrant 
and  barefaced  defrauder  of  her  working  people  is  your  high-class, 
fashionable  dressmaker. 

A  small  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  workers  to  help  themselves  is 
the  Cooperative  Shirtmakers,  770  Third  Avenue.  It  was  a  little 
pathetic  to  hear  from  them  that  they  have  been  together  five  years, 
“longer  than  most  cooperative  things  hold  together.”  They  are 
thoroughly  bright,  intelligent  women,  large-hearted  and  large-minded, 
with  full  sympathy  and  sisterly  love  for  their  sex.  Not  all  of  their 
members  work  together;  of  those  who  do,  no  one  receives  more  than 
her  regular  wages;  the  profits,  if  any,  are  divided  between  a  sinking 
fund  to  increase  the  business  and  a  benefit  fund  for  sick  members. 

I  have  not  tried  to  exhaust  this  subject,  in  fact,  it  is  inexhaustible; 
only  to  say  such  things  as  may  perhaps  open  the  eyes  of  some  one 
person  to  the  lives  that  are  being  lived  through  around  us.  And  yet 
what  good  will  it  do  ?  But  God  help  us  all  unless  we  change  this 
state  of  things,  and  that  right  speedily! 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 


WOMEN  CLERKS  IN  NEW  YORK. 

BY  THE  MARQUISE  CLARA  LANZA.* 

Reprinted  by  the  special  permission  of  The  Cosmopolitan  and  author. 

THE  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  brings  us  face  to  face  with 
many  noteworthy  progressive  movements  that  point  trium¬ 
phantly  to  the  promotion  of  free  thought;  but  perhaps  none  is  more 
vital  and  significant  than  the  progress  that  is  based  upon  a  high 
standard  of  womanly  independence  and  is  the  direct  outcome  of  a 
purely  feminine  inspiration.  With  the  increase  of  educational  ad¬ 
vantages  has  come  a  corresponding  evolution  in  habits  and  manners. 
Old-time  prejudices  lie  buried.  Work  has  become  fashionable.  By 
work,  I  do  not  mean  dilettante  dalliance  with  the  implements  of 
labor,  but  actual  exercise  of  brain  and  muscle  as  a  means  of  liveli¬ 
hood.  Feminine  dignity  is  nowadays  in  nowise  imperilled  by  legiti¬ 
mate  employment  used  as  a  means  of  existence.  It  is  an  accepted 
fact,  and  one  that  is  wholly  in  accordance  with  a  proper  American 
spirit  of  democracy,  that  girls  should  be  educated  with  a  view  to 
earning  their  own  living.  A  specified  and  sustained  occupation, 
having  in  end  a  definite  purpose,  is  undoubtedly  a  help  to  every 
human  being.  Twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago  it  was  natural  for  a 
girl  to  look  forward  to  marriage  as  embodying  all  that  was  of  conse¬ 
quence  in  life.  Not  to  have  done  so  would  have  stamped  the  bold 
Philistine  with  the  fatal  brand  of  eccentricity;  and  had  she  perchance 
gone  yet  farther  and  dared  to  fling  conventionality  to  the  winds  by 
earning  her  bread  in  a  sphere  of  employment  hitherto  confined  to  the 
sterner  sex,  her  genteel  acquaintances  would  have  passed  by  on  the 
other  side,  not  so  much  from  a  snobbish  sense  of  superiority  as  from 

*  Author  of  "  A  Modern  Marriage,-’  “  A  Golden  Pilgrimage,”  etc. 


Marquise  Clara  Lanza. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


445 


a  deep-rooted  conviction  that  the  unfortunate  woman  in  question 
had  deliberately  plunged  into  the  very  vortex  of  sin  and  humilia¬ 
tion. 

We  have  happily  changed  all  this.  Marriage  is  good  enough,  of 
course,  but  it  is  regarded  rather  as  a  possible  chance  or  accident  than 
as  a  necessary  means  to  an  end.  And,  moreover,  mankind  has  awak¬ 
ened  to  the  consciousness  that  there  are  important  considerations  in 
the  world  beyond  plain  sewing  and  teaching  dull  little  boys  the  alpha¬ 
bet.  Any  woman  who  has  brains  and  willing  hands  finds  twenty 
remunerative  occupations  open  to  her  where  formerly  she  would  have 
found  merely  the  inevitable  two — plain  sewing,  or  the  dull  little  boys. 
All  she  has  to  do  is  to  make  her  choice  and  then  buckle  on  her  armor 
of  perseverance,  while  the  world  applauds. 

To  her  credit  be  it  said  that  woman,  in  striving  to  attain  in  certain 
lines  of  action  the  eminence  already  occupied  by  man,  has  not  proved 
herself  by  any  means  a  failure.  She  has  shown  herself  to  be  fully  his 
equal  in  physical  endurance  and  mental  capacity.  Among  the  woman 
workers  in  New  York  there  are  none  who  afford  a  more  interesting 
study  than  the  vast  army  of  clerks;  the  work  of  a  clerk  being  admir¬ 
ably  adapted  to  the  sex.  You  may  count  almost  on  the  fingers  of 
one  hand  the  number  of  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  women 
clerks  appeared.  Yet  so  prevalent  have  they  become  in  all  our  large 
cities,  that  one  might  say  they  have  entirely  superseded  the  men  in 
this  particular  department.  Nine  employers  out  of  ten  prefer  women 
as  clerks.  If  this  statement  appears  to  be  a  sweeping  one,  it  can  be 
verified  by  the  fact  that  the  demand  for  women  as  clerical  workers  is 
steadily  on  the  increase,  while  men  stand  a  comparatively  poor 
chance  of  securing  positions.  The  circumstance  is  amply  justified 
by  many  reasons,  not  the  least  of  these  being  the  superior  quality  of 
the  work  performed  by  women. 

Speaking,  not  long  ago,  to  the  head  of  a  large  publishing  house 
where  women  were  employed  as  cashiers  and  book-keepers,  I  ven¬ 
tured  to  ask  whether  the  women  compared  favorably  with  men  in  the 
fulfilment  of  their  respective  duties. 

“Women,”  was  the  answer,  “are  much  to  be  preferred  for  a 
number  of  reasons.  They  are  capable  and  industrious,  and,  so  far 
as  my  personal  experience  goes,  absolutely  reliable.  Besides,  a 


446  .  THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


woman  is  more  conscientious  about  her  work.  Mathematical  exact¬ 
ness  in  small  things  is  a  virtue  not  often  accredited  to  women,  but  it 
can  be  cultivated  as  well  as  anything  else.  Double-entry  book¬ 
keeping  is  just  as  much  an  exact  science  as  differential  calculus. 
Do  you  see  that  fair-haired  girl  yonder  ?  ’  ’  pointing  to  a  quiet-looking 
figure  seated  before  a  tall  desk  and  a  formidable  ledger,  ‘•well,  she 
is  one  of  the  most  accomplished  book-keepers  in  New  York.  There 
is  not  one  man  in  a  hundred  who  can  compare  with  her.  She  has 
the  whole  thing  at  her  finger’s  ends.  She  never  makes  a  mistake 
and  she  never  misses  a  day  here  from  January  to  December.  She 
comes  at  half-past  eight  and  remains  till  six.  None  of  my  women 
clerks  are  irregular  in  their  attendance.  There  is  the  cashier.  She 
handles  every  penny  that  comes  into  the  business  and  I  trust  her  im¬ 
plicitly.  Her  accounts  are  beautifully  kept  and  always  perfectly 
accurate.  I  wouldn’t  take  men  in  place  of  these  girls  in  any  circum¬ 
stances.  Men  are  troublesome.  They  complain  about  trifles  that  a 
woman  wouldn’t  notice.  The  office  boys  don’t  suit,  or  the  tempera¬ 
ture  of  the  building  is  too  hot  or  too  cold,  or  the  light  is  not  properly 
adjusted.  Then,  if  they  have  a  slight  headache,  they  stay  at  home. 
Most  of  them  are  married,  and  their  wives  fall  ill,  or  their  mother- 
in-law  comes  on  a  visit,  and  all  these  things  are  made  an  excuse  for 
absence.  The  women  come  whether  they  have  headaches  or  not. 
They  never  want  a  day  off  to  attend  a  baseball  match.  They  under¬ 
take  the  work  with  a  full  understanding  of  what  is  required  of  them, 
and  they  are  steadfast  in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  We  treat 
them  well  and  never  refuse  to  grant  them  any  trifling  favor.  There 
is  only  one  thing  we  exact  over  and  above  their  business  qualifica¬ 
tions.  We  do  not  employ  a  woman  unless  she  lives  at  home  with 
her  family. 

1  ‘  This  has  the  appearance  of  injustice,  but  if  you  reflect  a  moment 
you  will  recollect  that  the  temptations  to  which  a  woman  living  by 
herself  is  exposed  in  a  great  city  are  manifold  and  dangerous,  and 
for  our  own  sake  we  find  it  necessary  that  our  clerks,  like  Caesar’s 
wife,  should  be  above  suspicion  as  to  character  and  antecedents. 
We  must  know  all  about  them  and  their  families.  The  cashier  who 
is  here  now  did  not  take  a  regular  course  of  instruction  at  a  business 
college.  She  had  a  relative,  an  uncle  or  a  cousin,  well  established  in 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


447 


business,  and  who  trained  her  privately  for  the  position  she  occupies. 
She  has  been  accustomed  to  office  work  ever  since  she  was  a  child.” 

The  above  proved  conclusively  that  capability  and  a  readiness  to 
work  did  not  in  every  instance  insure  a  desirable  occupation  to  the 
woman  who  sought  it.  A  girl  who  had  no  “family,”  and  who 
was  obliged  to  depend  upon  her  individual  exertions  for  the  food  she 
ate  and  the  clothes  she  wore,  could  not  hope  to  get  any  position  of 
trust.  A  woman  who  handles  large  sums  of  money  that  do  not 
belong  to  her  must  be  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  a  definite  respecti- 
bility;  and  while  it  sounds  a  bit  quixotic  to  insist  that  she  must  have 
family  connections  over  and  above  all  her  other  virtues,  it  is  perfectly 
just  in  the  abstract.  Unfortunately,  respectable  relations  cannot  be 
manufactured  to  order;  therefore  she  who  has  them  not  would  better 
become  a  typewriter,  a  stenographer,  or  a  telegraph  operator. 

The  large  schools  of  stenography  and  typewriting  turn  out  annually 
hundreds  of  women  who  rank  easily  with  the  most  accomplished  men 
clerks.  Typewriting,  being  in  great  demand,  is  perhaps  the  most 
lucrative  of  the  minor  employments  open  to  women.  It  is  claimed 
that  the  market  is  decidedly  overstocked  with  typewriters,  and  that 
there  are  not  half  enough  positions  for  the  largely  increasing  number 
of  candidates.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  The  market  may  be  over¬ 
crowded  with  women  who  claim  to  be  typewriters  and  stenographers, 
but  in  reality  there  is  not  a  sufficient  number  of  well  trained  and 
capable  clerks  to  supply  the  demand. 

»“  By  far  the  greatest  difficulty  I  have  to  contend  with,”  says  Miss 
Seymour,  who  presides  over  the  Union  School  of  stenography  and 
typewriting,  “  is  to  keep  my  best  operators  with  me.  Although  I 
pay  them  liberal  salaries  and  do  everything  I  can  to  secure  their 
services  permanently,  they  are  in  constant  receipt  of  offers  that  men 
would  be  glad  to  receive.  Many  pupils  of  the  school  receive  offers 
of  positions  at  salaries  varying  from  $8.00  to  $ 12.00  a  week  before 
they  have  finished  the  six  months’  course  of  instruction.  I  mention 
this  for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  popular  the  employment  of 
women  clerks  has  become,  that  is,  if  they  are  properly  trained  for  the 
work.  It  is  positive  that  an  intelligent  woman  is  especially  fitted  for 
clerical  work.  If  she  does  not  succeed  her  failure  is  due  to  faulty 
training.  Business  men  tell  me  they  prefer  women  as  shorthand 


448 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


amanuenses  for  one  particular  reason.  It  is  because,  contrary  to 
accepted  tradition,  women  are  less  likely  than  men  to  disclose  the 
business  secrets  of  their  employers.  Then,  too,  they  are  more  faith¬ 
ful  and  more  apt  to  remain  for  a  long  period  in  the  service  of  one 
employer. 

“Of  course,  a  number  of  employers  engage  women  under  the 
prevailing  impression  that  they  will  work  for  lower  wages;  but  while 
this  is  true  in  the  majority  of  cases,  it  is  equally  true  that  efficient 
women  can  command  as  high  salaries  as  men,  particularly  if  they 
refuse  to  work  for  less,  which  is  usually  the  case.’’ 

Typewriting  and  stenography  are  not  of  themselves  very  difficult 
of  comprehension  or  execution,  and  it  does  not  take  long  in  order  to 
familiarize  one’s  self  with  either;  but  a  clerk  who  wishes  to  succeed 
must  know  many  more  things.  She  must  possess  a  ready  know¬ 
ledge  of  English  composition  and  orthography.  She  must  be  able  to 
punctuate  properly,  and  above  all,  be  quick  to  grasp  an  idea.  Large 
numbers  of  girls  spend  their  last  penny  in  an  attempt  to  fit  them¬ 
selves  for  clerical  work,  only  to  discover  that,  owing  to  their  rudi¬ 
mentary  education  and  total  inaptitude,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to 
fill  any  responsible  position.  A  few  study  and  persevere,  contenting 
themselves  with  a  meagre  salary,  $5.00  or  $6.00  a  week  perhaps, 
and  thus  gradually  work  themselves  up  to  a  higher  rung  of  the 
ladder.  But  there  are  scores  of  discouraged  plodders  who  have  not 
the  spirit  of  hopeful  aspiration  to  guide  them,  and  these  fall  by  the 
wayside  and  sink  into  obscurity,  while  their  braver  sisters  pass  on  to 
victory. 

Special  departments  have  been  instituted  in  most  of  the  business 
schools  calculated  to  provide  for  similar  instances  of  temporary  in¬ 
competency,  while  further  instruction  is  given  in  legal  and  technical 
terms,  so  that  pupils  who  “get  through”  successfully  are  qualified 
to  step  at  once  into  the  lawyer’s  office  or  the  author’s  study.  I  find, 
however,  that  many  clerks  complain  of  the  enormous  amount  of 
work  they  are  compelled  to  perform  in  law  offices,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  dry  and  uninteresting  character  of  the  labor  itself.  Another  ex¬ 
cellent  feature  of  the  schools  lies  in  transitory  employment  given  to 
pupils  while  they  are  pursuing  their  studies,  thus  enabling  them  to 
earn  a  little  money,  while  at  the  same  time  they  gain  much  valuable 
experience. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


449 


Telegraph  operators,  insurance  clerks,  shorthand  reporters  and 
proof-readers  command  wages  in  proportion  to  the  proficiency  with 
which  their  work  is  accomplished.  A  great  number  of  these  girls 
have  relatives  dependent  upon  them  for  support,  so  that  it  is  hard 
very  often  to  make  both  ends  meet.  I  have  in  mind  at  this  moment 
a  girl  of  twenty,  a  telegraph  operator,  who  supports  not  only  herself 
but  a  crippled  and  semi-imbecile  brother.  There  is  something  pa¬ 
thetic  about  this  little  household — a  couple  of  rooms  in  a  west-side 
boarding-house  where  the  sun  illumines  fitfully  the  dreary  interior. 
There  is  a  gas  stove  in  the  corner  and  an  easy  chair  by  the  window. 
Here,  beside  a  row  of  potted  geraniums,  the  invalid  brother  sits  all 
day — sits  and  looks  with  vacant  eyes  into  the  street,  while  the  sister 
works  and  earns  the  money  that  pays  the  doctor  and  buys  medicine, 
that  this  useless  existence  may  be  prolonged. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  dull-tinted  vignette  is  by  any 
-means  typical  of  a  woman  clerk’s  life.  Quite  the  contrary.  Most 
clerks  have  comfortable  homes  with  their  parents,  and  numbers  of 
them  enjoy  not  only  the  ordinary  necessaries  of  life,  but  a  consider¬ 
able  portion  of  its  luxuries.  As  a  rule,  the  clerk’s  entire  salary  is  at 
her  disposal  for  her  personal  requirements.  She  must  dress  neatly, 
and  then  there  are  petty  vanities  that  every  woman  likes  to  indulge, 
no  matter  what  her  station  may  be.  The  woman  clerk  is  rarely  friv¬ 
olous  in  her  demeanor.  She  cannot  afford  frivolity;  the  mere  fact  of 
her  self-dependence  invests  her  with  a  certain  outward  dignity  that 
one  sees  seldom  displaced  even  when  brought  into  collision  with  the 
powerful  exuberance  of  youthful  animal  spirits.  Not  that  she  is  prim 
and  Puritanical.  She  does  not  eschew  legitimate  pleasure  nor  regard 
amusement  as  superfluous.  But  she  seems  impressed  by  the  con¬ 
sciousness  that  being  forced  to  trust  her  mental  resources  for  what¬ 
ever  she  now  has  and  is  destined  to  enjoy  in  the  future  constitutes  an 
inspiring  duty  that  is  not  the  less  evident  or  sacred  because  it  hap¬ 
pens  to  devolve  entirely  upon  herself.  Temptations  descend  and 
threaten  her,  temptations  whose  very  existence  is  ignored  by  those 
who,  in  the  peaceful  serenity  of  home  and  protected  from  the  world, 
are  dimly  aware  of  the  actual  meaning  of  life,  and  faintly  appreciate 
the  devastating  force  that  lurks  about,  seeking  so-called  “independ¬ 
ence  ’  ’  for  its  prey. 


450 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


If  individual  fidelity  marks  an  interesting  step  on  the  road  to  pro¬ 
gress,  a  great  deal  also  depends  upon  judicious  co-operation.  There 
are  several  clubs  and  societies  in  New  York  that  are  maintained  by 
clerical  workers  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  advancement.  One  or  two 
of  these  admit  men  as  well  as  women  to  membership.  These  associ¬ 
ations  offer  much  that  is  both  attractive  and  useful.  A  clerk,  type¬ 
writer  or  stenographer  who  is  out  of  employment  can  practice  at  the 
club  rooms.  At  a  stated  evening  of  each  week  literary  exercises  are 
conducted  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  desire  to  attend,  and  once  a 
month  some  distinguished  lecturer  is  invited  to  address  the  society. 
The  initiation  fee  is  $1.00,  and  additional  monthly  dues  of  fifty  cents 
are  demanded. 

So  much  for  the  actual  conditions  that  surround  women  clerks  in 
New  York.  But  what  of  the  future?  In  what  special  line  of  life 
and  thought  are  these  women  casting  their  destiny  ?  The  majority 
are,  undoubtedly,  worthy  and  enterprising.  Indeed,  it  stands  to 
reason  that  a  dying  ambition  or  a  sudden  relaxation  of  the  working 
stimulus  would  create  a  rapid  decadence  in  the  ranks.  As  this  does 
not  make  itself  anywhere  apparent  we  must  infer  that  the  existing 
relations  between  the  employer  and  the  employees  are,  on  the  whole, 
satisfactorily  maintained  on  both  sides.  A  woman  dismissed  from  a 
profitable  situation  for  laziness  or  raw  inexperience  would  find  her 
career  practically  ended.  Where  a  man  would  in  all  probability 
secure  other  work  to  take  the  place  of  what  he  had  lost,  a  woman 
would  be  more  likely  to  remain  inactive  and  lukewarm,  a  victim  to 
her  femininity. 

The  matrimonial  achievements  of  women  clerks  have  become  a 
species  of  national  pleasantry.  So  many  women  employed  in  offices 
and  mercantile  houses  have  married  men  with  whom  they  would 
hardly  have  come  in  contact  in  another  sphere,  that  the  subject  has 
long  ceased  to  be  a  matter  of  speculation,  and  has  gradually  drifted 
from  witty  comment  to  the  more  sober  attention  that  bespeaks  a 
recognized  fact. 

“  It  is  curious,”  said  not  long  ago  the  chief  partner  in  a  large 
insurance  firm,  “  but  during  the  past  year  five  of  our  best  women 
clerks  have  married  men  of  means  and  are  now  living  in  ease  and 
leisure.  How  did  they  manage  it?  Well,  it  happened  naturally 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


451 


enough,  chiefly  through  business  correspondence.  It  is  very  ro¬ 
mantic,  though  one  would  not  expect  romance  to  be  mixed  up  with 
insurance  policies.  Every  insurance  company  has  of  course  a 
policy  department  where  all  business  connected  with  policies  and 
their  holders  is  transacted.  At  the  head  of  this  department  is  a 
forewoman  who  gets  from  forty  to  sixty  dollars  a  week,  and  who  is 
in  direct  correspondence  with  the  president  and  other  officers.  The 
policy  department  is  divided  into  geographical  sections;  each  of 
these  sections  has  a  special  room  provided  for  its  own  business. 
These  rooms  are  superintended  by  a  head  clerk  with  an  assistant. 
The  head  clerk  gets  about  $ 16.00  a  week  and  conducts  all  the 
necessary  correspondence  with  agents.  The  letters  are  dictated  to  a 
stenographer.  The  correspondence  is  a  long  one  very  often.  The 
agents  come  to  New  York  from  the  North,  South  or  West  as  the 
case  may  be,  visit  the  company  offices,  see  all  the  girls  at  work, 
and,  of  course,  ask  which  ones  have  been  conducting  special  corre¬ 
spondences.  If  a  girl  happens  to  be  pretty  and  modest,  an  acquaint¬ 
ance  springs  up,  and  at  last  Miss  Blank  announces  to  the  forewoman 
that  she  intends  to  leave  and  get  married.  This  happens  again  and 
again.  Then,  too,  the  girls  are  often  brought  into  business  relations 
with  our  men  clerks  and  marry  them.” 

From  all  I  am  able  to  gather  the  girls  make  good  wives.  There 
is  nothing  in  clerical  training  that  detracts  from  the  finest  womanly 
qualities,  and  men  have  outgrown  their  admiration  for  feminine  help¬ 
lessness  and  have  come  to  look  upon  independence  as  something 
worth  having.  Clerical  training  educates  the  mind  to  accuracy  in 
details,  punctuality  in  the  daily  affairs  of  life,  economy  in  the 
adjustment  of  time  and  quickness  of  perception  Perhaps  this  is 
the  reason  why  so  many  men  choose  a  wife  amid  the  deft-fingered 
clerks  in  preference  to  the  society  misses.  The  woman  clerk  has 
studied  the  value  of  concentration,  learned  the  lesson  that  incites  to 
work  when  a  burden  bears  heavily  upon  her  strength.  She  knows 
the  worth  of  self-reliance,  and  the  fine  courage  that  springs  from  the 
consciousness  that  a  good  result  has  been  accomplished  by  a  well- 
directed  effort. 


. 


WOMEN  IN  ART  AND  MUSIC. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 


WOMEN  IN  ART. 

EDITORIAL. 

“Art  is  the  child  of  Nature;  yes, 

Her  darling  child  in  whom  we  trace 
The  features  of  the  mother’s  face; 

Her  aspect  and  her  attitude. 

Longfellow. 

REGARDING  the  work  of  women  in  the  field  of  art  Mrs. 

Susan  N.  Carter,  principal  of  Cooper  Union  Woman’s  Art 
School,  writes  as  follows  in  an  article  published  recently  in  the  North 
American  Review:* 

The  art-work  of  women  now  past  middle  life  was  mostly  confined 
in  their  early  youth  to  copying  with  a  crayon  point  the  ‘  Hatchings  ’ 
and  ‘  Stipplings  ’  of  French  lithographs.  In  addition  to  such  sallies, 
young  women  employed  leisure  moments  in  painfully  duplicating 
with  fine  lead  pencils  the  innumerable  leaves  of  trees  seen  in  engrav¬ 
ings,  while  some  old  castle  or  the  round  tower  of  a  mill,  in  the  port¬ 
folio  of  their  drawing  professor,  excited  great  enthusiasm.  The 
mothers  of  the  present  generation  of  girls  recollect  well  this  state  of 
things,  and  they  can  also  recall  the  square  cross-stitch  done  in  Berlin 
wools  then  usual  for  embroidering  slippers  and  lamp-mats.  But  our 
grandmothers  were  even  more  elementary  than  their  daughters  in 
their  conception  of  art.  When  the  young  lady  of  that  generation 
had  finished  her  sampler  in  crewel-work,  and  appended  to  this  bit  of 
embroidery  a  yellow  canary  bird  eating  impossible  cherries  from  a 
tree  scarcely  taller  than  itself;  or  had  fashioned  with  her  needle  a 
willow  tree  overhanging  a  white  gravestone,  above  which  a  mourner 
was  weeping,  such  examples  constituted  her  artistic  ‘  finishing,  ’ 

*  “  Women  in  the  Field  of  Art  Work." 


45&  THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


and  she  was  deemed  fit  to  enter  society  or  to  assume,  often  at  fifteen 
or  sixteen  years  of  age,  the  cares  of  wedded  life. 

“  The  large  art  schools  of  the  country  significantly  indicate  the  di¬ 
rection  art  is  taking.  Among  them  the  Woman’s  Art  School  of  the 
Cooper  Union  affords  a  suggestive  example;  and  its  sister  schools 
through  the  country  tell  the  same  story  of  the  broadened  intellectual 
life  of  women.  When  we  allude  to  the  schools  of  Boston,  Phila¬ 
delphia,  San  Francisco  and  Washington,  and  mention  the  new  build¬ 
ings  that  have  lately  been  erected  for  museums  and  schools  in 
Minneapolis,  Cincinnati  and  Chicago,  and  speak  of  the  art  depart¬ 
ments  connected  with  Harvard  or  Yale,  in  which  women  have  equal 
opportunities  with  men  for  study;  to  say  nothing  of  the  studios  filled 
with  art  collections  at  such  women’s  colleges  as  Vassar,  Wellesley 
and  Smith,  we  see  how  large  a  field  art  now  occupies;  without  count¬ 
ing  the  myriad  children  now  learning  to  draw  in  the  public  schools 
of  the  United  States.  The  Art  Students’  League,  the  Metropolitan 
Art  Schools,  and  the  National  Academy  contain  large  classes  of 
women. 

“We  have  seen  how  girls  in  the  last  generation  found  their  ex¬ 
amples  of  art  in  the  portfolio  of  their  teacher.  Illustrated  magazines, 
which  in  themselves  are  now  a  liberal  education,  had  at  that  time  no 
existence.  Good  engravings  were  then  rare,  and  photography  had 
not  been  dreamed  of.  Now,  girls  can  dream  over  the  Sistine  Ma¬ 
donna  in  a  photograph  which  gives  nearly  the  full  impression  of  the 
original,  while  an  etching  from  Turner  echoes  the  sentiment  of  that 
artist. 

“  One  phase  of  art  expresses  itself  through  a  small  class  of  engrav¬ 
ers,  where  delicate  taste  and  deft  handicraft  appear.  Here  are  found 
the  principal  compositions  of  Mrs.  Mary  Hallock  Foote.  In  these 
she  depicts  remote  Western  life.  But  there  is  a  more  frequent  type 
of  artistic  woman,  composed  of  those  without  aptitude  for  untried 
paths,  who  are  skilful  in  developing  on  the  block  the  ‘  tone,’  ‘values,’ 
and  graces  of  composition  which  other  artists  have  originated.  In 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  one  young  Southern  girl  has  an  office  for  com¬ 
mercial  engraving.  Until  she  returned  home  from  studying  in  the 
North,  there  was  no  such  branch  of  work  as  hers  along  the 
Southern  Atlantic  seaboard.  In  some  of  the  Western  States 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


457 


women  have  formed  partnerships  and  gone  into  the  business  of 
engraving. 

‘  ‘  Many  interiors  of  dwellings  and  public  buildings  show  that 
women  decorators  have  worked  successfully.  The  names  of  Mrs. 
Wheeler  and  Miss  Revere  Johnson  are  well  known.  The  rooms  of 
the  Associated  Artists  in  New  York  disclose  a  charming  life.  Mod¬ 
ern  tapestry  is  wrought  here  by  hands  that  follow  closely  the  methods 
of  Beauvais  or  Bayeux.  In  other  directions  of  beautiful  embellish¬ 
ment  the  art-paper  manufacturers  have  produced  some  of  their  best 
hangings  from  designs  furnished  them  by  women.  The  silk  factories 
of  the  Messrs.  Cheney  owe  to  our  art  students  patterns  for  brocade 
and  satins,  besides  suggestions  for  weaving  their  splendid  goods 
which  add  to  the  sheen  of  satin  the  diaphanous  effect  of  velvet,  or 
which  by  various  threads  and  surfaces  increase  their  richness  and 
beauty. 

‘  ‘  Among  new  directions  of  art,  pen  and  ink  illustration  furnishes 
a  promising  field.  Girls  and  women  are  heard  of  who,  content  to  be 
poor  and  unknown,  are  happy  and  serene  in  carrying  out  plans  for 
stained  glass  or  mural  ornamentation  in  the  studios  of  Mr.  Lafarge, 
Mr.  Tiffany,  and  other  artists. 

“Mrs.  Maria  Longworth  Nicholas,  now  Mrs.  Bellamy  Storer, 
founded  the  Rockwood  potteries  at  Cincinnati.  Miss  Louise  Mc¬ 
Laughlin  has  the  credit  of  re-discovering  the  Haviland  under-glaze. 
Cincinnati  women  have  made  their  mark  also  as  wood  carvers.  We 
have  not  dwelt  at  all  on  the  oil  and  water  color  pictures  made  by 
women  and  seen  in  our  exhibitions.  But  we  have  endeavored  to 
throw  light  into  some  of  the  by-ways  of  art  which  are  subtly  and 
surely  affecting  the  life  of  this  nation,  though  to  what  extent  is  gen¬ 
erally  little  known.” 

In  this  department  Miss  Maude  Haywood  has  given  interesting 
glimpses  of  women  in  various  art  epochs,  and  Miss  Helen  Evertson 
Smith,  has  displayed  painstaking  research  in  her  article  on  ‘  ‘  Women 
Art  Patrons.” 


458  THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


WOMEN  IN  MUSIC. 


EDITORIAL. 


“  Music  is  the  universal  language  of  mankind.” 


Longfellow. 


R.  GEORGE  P.  UPTON,  in  his  delightful  book,  entitled, 


iV  1  ‘‘Woman  in  Music,”  thus  pays  tribute  to  some  American 
artists:  ‘‘With  the  proper  study  and  a  rightly  directed  culture, 
there  is  no  reason  why  American  women  should  not  take  leading 
places  in  the  musical  world,  as  they  have  exceptionally  fine  voices. 

Surely  there  is  every  impulse  and  incentive  for  study  in  the  ex¬ 
periences  of  Adelina  Patti,  Emma  Albani,  Minnie  Hauk,  Marie  Litta, 
Antoinette  Sterling,  Emma  Osgood,  Anna  Louise  Cary,  Clara  Louise 
Kellogg,  Jessie  Bartlett  Davis  and  other  American  women  who  have 
made  themselves  famous  all  over  Europe.” 

Among  the  young  American  women  who  have  gained  reputation 
for  skilled  playing  upon  the  violin  may  be  mentioned:  Miss  Maud 
Powell,  Miss  Geraldine  Morgan,  Leonora  Von  Stosch,  Jeanne 
Franko,  (Mrs.  Hugo  Kraemer),  Lucille  M.  Du  Pr6,  Winifred 
Rogers,  Dora  Valeska  Becker,  Nettie  Carpenter,  (Mrs.  Stern), 
Florence  Cooper,  Anitza  Tedori,  Lillian  Shattuck  and  others.  Miss 
Marietta  R.  Sherman,  of  Boston,  is  perhaps  the  most  famed  among 
the  women  violinists  of  that  city.  She  is  the  manager,  conductor 
and  was  the  founder  of  the  Boston  Beacon  Orchestral  Club. 

‘‘Although  not  the  creator,  woman  has  inspired  the  creations,  and 
then  interpreted  them  to  the  world.”  Mr.  Upton  thus  eloquently 
writes: 

‘‘Man  maybe  the  intellect  of  music;  she  is  its  heart  and  soul. 
What  she  has  not  done  with  music,  matters  little  with  the  great  glory 
and  beauty  she  has  given  to  music.  No  grander  work  can  occupy 
her  attention.  Music  was  the  first  sound  heard  in  the  creation,  when 
the  morning  stars  sang  together.  It  was  the  first  sound  heard  at  the 
birth  of  Christ,  when  the  angels  sang  together  above  the  plains  of 
Bethlehem.  It  is  the  universal  language,  which  appeals  to  the  uni¬ 
versal  heart  of  mankind.  Its  thrill  prevades  all  nature, — in  the  hum 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


459 


of  the  tiniest  insect,  in  the  tops  of  the  wind-smitten  pines,  in  the 
solemn  diapason  of  ocean.  And  there  must  come  a  time  when  it 
will  be  the  only  suggestion  left  of  our  nature  and  creation;  since  it 
alone,  of  all  things  on  earth,  is  known  in  heaven.  The  human  soul 
and  music  are  alone  eternal.  ’  ’ 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 


WOMEN  ARTISTS. 

BY  MAUDE  HAYWOOD.* 

{N  the  onward  progress  of  history,  there  come,  periodically,  times 
when  it  seems  well  to  pause  momentarily  that  we  may  by  gath¬ 
ering  up  and  reviewing  the  past,  gain  some  just  idea  of  how  we 
stand,  wherein  lie  our  strength  and  our  weakness,  what  may  be  our 
future  aims  and  what  be  counted  our  gradually  defined  possibilities. 
Surely  no  opportunity  could  be  more  fitting  than  the  present  for 
such  a  purpose,  when  we  may  with  advantage  glance  briefly  at  the 
position  already  attained  by  women  in  the  art  world,  in  order,  not  so 
much  to  boast  of  what  has  already  been  attained,  as  to  gain  courage 
and  inspiration,  that  may  bear  fruit  in  the  coming  century. 

That  the  important  share  taken  by  women  in  the  development  of 
American  national  life  has  done  much  towards  the  shaping  of  its 
individual  characteristics,  is  undoubted.  To-day,  women  stand  in  a 
position,  that  not  so  very  long  ago  if  described  prophetically,  would 
have  been  deemed  the  mere  idle  picture  of  some  dreamer’s  brain. 
Particularly  is  this  true  in  all  branches  of  art  work,  wherein  women 
are  now  holding  their  own,  in  a  manner  that  must  be  a  source  of 
wonder,  to  the  elders  even  of  our  own  generation,  if  we  consider 
how  small  a  part  women  have  formerly  played  in  the  history  of  art. 

Looking  backward,  further  than  the  four  centuries  of  American 
civilized  life,  the  completion  of  which  we  are  celebrating,  back  to 
the  early  days  of  known  history,  it  is  surely  a  point  worthy  of 
notice,  that  in  nations  where  women  were  real  factors  in  their  social, 
historical  and  literary  progress,  that  no  woman’s  name  is  handed 
down  to  us  as  famous  in  the  art  world.  The  Greeks,  amongst 


*  Associate  Editor  Ladies'  Home  Journal. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


461 


whom  after  a  fashion,  women  were  honored  and  idealized,  produced 
a  Sappho,  but  no  female  painter  or  sculptor  that  we  know  of.  In 
modem  days  the  same  fact  may  be  remarked.  Taking  up  a  history 
of  European  art,  we  find  in  running  our  eyes  over  the  pages,  that 
amongst  all  the  famous  names  of  the  Renaissance  period  not  one 
woman  is  mentioned.  Continuing  our  search  down  to  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  no  female  sculptor  appears  and  only  two 
women  painters  of  sufficient  note  to  be  recorded.  They  are  Rachel 
Ruysch,  a  flower  painter,  one  of  a  family  of  Dutch  artists,  her  date 
being  given  1664  to  1750,  and  the  famous  Angelica  Kaufmann,  who 
belongs  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  from  which  period  a 
new  era  seems  to  have  commenced  for  women  in  the  history 
of  art. 

Doubtless  from  early  times  they  had  shown  themselves  skilled  in 
the  more  strictly  feminine  art  of  decorative  embroidery,  and  had  even 
produced  pieces  destined  to  be  widely  famous,  as,  for  instance,  the 
Bayeux  tapestry  executed  by  the  Norman,  Matilda,  and  her  maidens 
— but  in  pictorial  and  sculptural  art,  women,  throughout  the  earlier 
centuries  had  created  nothing  worthy  of  fame,  while  in  the  last  hundred 
years  they  have  not  only  gained  recognition,  but  progressed  rapidly 
forward,  winning  laurels  for  their  sex,  since  in  the  front  rank  of 
famous  living  painters  they  can  point  to  Rosa  Bonheur  as  their  able 
representative. 

Since  women  first  gained  a  foothold  among  artists,  and  seemed 
gradually  to  more  fully  realize  their  own  powers  and  possibilities,  the 
advance  made  by  them  in  the  various  branches  of  work  has  been  so 
remarkable  and  so  rapidly  increasing,  that  it  augurs  favorably  for 
future  achievements.  By  no  means  has  the  limit  been  reached  of 
what  women  can  do  in  art,  as  compared  with  men,  but  the  way  has 
been  cleared  and  the  road  pointed  out.  The  sexes  can  now  work 
side  by  side,  in  competitions,  women  scoring  their  share  of  successes, 
where  but  a  short  time  ago  their  existence  even  was  ignored,  and 
their  works  not  admitted.  This  equality  in  chances  for  distinguish¬ 
ing  themselves  is  yearly  more  general  and  more  emphasized,  so  that 
now,  in  art  at  least,  women  have  not  so  much  to  fight  for  their  rights, 
as  to  learn  to  make  the  best  use  of  them,  and  to  prove  themselves 
worthy  of  their  opportunities.  The  pioneer  days  are  almost  over, 


462 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


and  the  future  looks  very  bright,  but  not  so  brilliant  that  even  one, 
great  or  small,  can  afford  to  relax  in  efforts  or  aim 

Women’s  difficulties  in  art,  one  may  say,  as  a  general  statement, 
lie  less  in  their  talents  and  faculties  than  in  their  social  position  and 
domestic  relations.  Women  where  they  prove  successful,  owe 
it  usually  to  their  whole-hearted,  single  devotion  to  their  profession 
or  calling,  the  entire  concentration  of  their  powers  and  interests, 
being  more  essential  for  their  achievements  in  most  cases,  one  may 
venture  to  say,  than  with  men.  Many  a  career  has  been  broken  off 
by  the  stepping  in  of  new  interests,  to  be  resumed  perhaps  later  in 
life,  but  never  with  the  same  fulness  of  enthusiasm  that  makes  famous 
names.  Women  must  realize  that  as  a  sex  they  are  thus  handicapped, 
but  in  America  particularly  these  natural  drawbacks  have  been  made 
less  of,  and  so  much  has  been  achieved  in  spite  of  them,  that  we  are 
almost  tempted  to  think  the  more  highly  of  women’s  inherent  artistic 
gifts  and  possibilities,  where  we  can  perceive  so  fair  a  showing  in  the 
face  of  acknowledged  difficulties.  For  what,  in  fact,  can  now  be 
seen  ?  At  exhibitions,  an  increasing  number  of  women’s  names  in 
each  annual  catalogue.  In  sculpture,  a  woman  recently  proving 
successful  in  the  competition  of  designs  for  a  public  statue,  for  which 
she  was  finally  given  the  commission.  In  the  more  practical  branches 
of  decorative  work,  designing  and  illustration,  women  are  not  only 
numerous,  but  obtaining  for  their  work  prices  at  the  same  rates  with 
men,  where  their  ability  is  equal.  So  much  has  been  gained.  For 
the  future,  with  words  of  encouragment  need  to  be  mingled  those 
also  of  warning  and  advice,  as  reluctantly  we  realize  the  tendencies 
of  many  in  our  midst.  American  women  should  be  true  in  their 
work  and  aims,  not  only  to  their  art  and  to  their  sex,  but  to  their 
country,  for  in  their  hands  lies  partly  the  determination  as  to  whether 
America  shall  have  a  National  Art  worthy  of  her  sons  and  daughters 
— whether  her  artistic  productions  shall  be,  not  the  mere  copies  of 
a  bygone  age,  nor  the  borrowed  fruit  of  foreign  talent,  but  the  living 
witnesses  of  original  creative  power  within  her. — To  prove  this  to  the 
honor  of  her  nation,  is  the  rightful  vocation  of  every  true  woman 
artist  of  America. 


Miss  Helen  Everston  Smith. 


CHAPTER  XL VII. 


WOMEN  ART  PATRONS. 


BY  HELEN  EVERTSON  SMITH.* 


HIS  title,  used  because  it  is  short  and  comprehensive,  requires 


1  an  explanation.  By  art  patronage  is  frequently  implied  merely 
the  buying  of  works  of  art  directly  from  the  artists.  The  present 
meaning  is  broader.  The  term  art-patron  is  here  applied  to  those 
who  by  gift  or  bequest  have  founded,  or  helped  to  found  and  tnain- 
tain  galleries  and  museums  of  pictures,  sculptures,  or  other  ‘  ‘  objects 
of  art,”  as  well  as  free  schools  and  scholarships  for  the  purpose  of 
art-study. 

At  first  it  was  feared  that  our  subject  might  afford  too  few  figures 
for  our  canvass.  Inspection  proves  that  our  small  space  will  be 
crowded.  W ealth  and  the  higher  grades  of  intellectual  taste  are  not 
always  found  in  association,  even  among  men  who  have  possessed 
the  combination  of  brains  and  opportunity  necessary  to  amass  large 
fortunes.  Among  women,  to  whom  the  possession  of  great  wealth 
is  usually  a  matter  of  accident  only,  it  has  been  supposed  that  the 
number  of  those  who  would  use  it  for  public  benefit,  especially  in 
aesthetic  lines,  would  be  proportionately  still  smaller.  But  America 
is  able  proudly  to  boast  of  women  who  have  given,  for  art  purposes 
alone,  sums  which  are  estimated  to  amount,  in  the  aggregate,  to  not 
less  than  $5,000,000.  Had  our  inquiry  included  the  wealth  given  to 
found  and  endow  libraries  and  schools,  this  amount  would  have  been 
more  than  quintupled.  Even  within  our  prescribed  limits  a  more 
close  investigation  might  prove  our  estimate  to  be  much  too  low,  for 
it  is  probable  that  a  great  many  women  have  given  collections  and 
founded  free  schools  of  design  in  our  smaller  cities  and  towns,  which 
gifts,  though  of  much  local  value,  benefit  but  limited  circles. 


♦Editor  and  journalist,  in  connection  with  various  magazines  and  periodicals. 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


464 

Probably  the  most  widely  known  gift  of  a  woman  for  art  purposes 
is  the  noble  collection  of  paintings,  and  the  large  fund  to  maintain  it, 
which  were  left  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  Association  of  New 
York  City  by  Miss  Catharine  Lorrillard  Wolfe. 

This  collection,  said  to  be,  with  possibly  one  exception,  the  finest 
in  the  Union,  is  the  pride  of  New  York  City.  Miss  Wolfe  is  a  true 
art-lover.  By  nature  and  education  she  was  fitted  to  select  the 
paintings  which  should  deserve  a  place  in  a  great  public  gallery. 
Her  collection  was  the  result  of  many  years  of  careful  study  and 
thought.  She  was  benevolent  in  all  lines,  but  was  sufficiently  cul¬ 
tured  to  see  that  educating  influences  are  of  more  value  than  aught 
else  in  preventing  the  need  for  more  personal  charities;  and,  also, 
that  a  most  powerful,  if  not  always  properly-appreciated  educational 
influence,  is  that  of  free  art-collections. 

This  influence  is  far  more  widely  extended  than  appears  at  first 
sight.  Its  benefits  are  not  confined  to  artists,  or  to  connoisseurs. 
These  are  but  few;  while  those  who  are  aided  are  legion,  and  are 
found  in  all  classes.  Even  the  artist-artisan  class,  large  and  con¬ 
stantly  increasing  as  it  is,  embraces  but  a  small  proportion  of  those 
who  are  materially  benefitted  by  visits  to  galleries  of  works  of  art. 
That  the  sense  of  color,  the  eye  for  form,  proportion  and  perspective, 
are  thus  educated  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  benefit  conferred.  In¬ 
sensibly,  but  surely,  all  our  individual  aims  and  surroundings  are 
improved  by  our  acquaintance  with  that  which  is  best.  This  fact 
Miss  Wolfe  recognised.  For  this  she  deserved,  and  will  ever 
receive  the  thanks  of  the  public.  To  give  to  New  York  City  a  col¬ 
lection  of  paintings  which  should  be  worthy  of  its  acceptance  and 
careful  preservation  was  the  pleasure  and  purpose  of  her  life.  She 
who  was  wealthy  “gave  what  she  could”  as  worthily  as  the  poor 
widow  gave  her  “two  mites,”  and  equally  deserves  the  full  credit 
for  her  act  of  far-sighted,  discriminating  generosity. 

To  several  other  women  the  same  museum  is  indebted  for  collec¬ 
tions  of  great  intrinsic  and  educational  importance.  The  costly  col¬ 
lection  of  art  tapestries  and  other  art-objects,  left  by  the  late  Mrs. 
U.  S.  Coles,  it  is  feared  may  not  finally  fall  to  the  city,  as  there  is 
some  contention  over  the  division  of  her  estate;  but  the  bequest  of 
rare  laces  by  Mrs.  J.  J.  Astor,  and  the  gifts  of  the  Misses  Lazarus, 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


465 


and  of  Mrs.  John  Crosby  Brown  and  others,  are  sure,  and  are  of 
much  importance  as  well  as  intrinsic  value.  The  gift  of  the  last- 
named  comes  properly  into  our  rapid  survey  because  music  is  cer¬ 
tainly  one  of  the  finest  of  the  arts,  and  in  her  superior  collection  of 
musical  instruments  of  all  ages  and  peoples,  Mrs.  Brown  has  given  a 
true  history  of  the  tone  art. 

The  collection  given  by  the  Misses  Lazarus  embraces  besides  other 
things,  many  specimens  of  the  jeweler’s  and  lapidary’s  arts,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  miniature  painter.  It  fills  many  large  cases  and  is  con¬ 
sidered  one  of  the  most  valuable  in  the  museum.  In  addition  to  this 
collection,  Mrs.  Amelia  B.  Lazarus  and  Miss  Emilie  Lazarus  have 
lately  given  $24,000  to  endow  a  free  art-scholarship.  The  interest 
of  this  sum  is  to  be  paid  every  two  years  to  that  male  member  of  the 
museum’s  regular  art-classes  who  shall  be  declared  by  the  prize  com¬ 
mittee  to  be  the  most  worthy  of  this  reward.  The  sum  is  to  be  spent 
in  study  in  Europe  in  accordance  with  the  programme  to  be  agreed 
upon  between  himself  and  the  committee,  to  which  he  is  also  to  re¬ 
port  progress  from  time  to  time.  As  the  benefits  of  this  scholarship 
are  limited  to  male  students,  it  leaves  room  for  hope  that  this  gener¬ 
ous  family  intend  soon  to  present  another  which  shall  be  open  to 
women  only.  This  would  be  a  fitting  and  noble  monument  to  the 
memory  of  their  gifted  relative  Miss  Emma  Lazarus,  whose  poems 
have  stirred  the  hearts  of  many  to  whom  she  was  personally  a 
stranger. 

The  art  department  of  the  Lenox  Library  has  been  enriched  by 
the  bequest  of  Mrs.  Robert  L.  Stuart’s  collection  of  paintings  and 
art  objects,  which,  together  with  a  cash  legacy,  are  said  to  represent 
a  value  of  nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars. 

In  point  of  the  money  given  for  art  purposes  by  any  one  woman, 
Philadelphia  seems  to  have  been  the  most  fortunate  of  our  cities. 
The  late  Mrs.  Anna  H.  Wilstach  having  bequeathed  to  the  Fair- 
mount  Park  Association  of  that  city,  one-fourth  part  of  her  whole 
estate.  This  includes  a  collection  of  about  200  pictures,  some  of 
which  are  very  highly  esteemed.  It  is  computed  that  the  whole 
bequest  will  not  amount  to  less  than  one  and  a  half  million  of 
dollars.  This  great  sum  appears  to  be  at  the  untrammelled  disposal 
of  the  Park  Commissioners  to  expend  in  erecting  a  gallery,  and  in 


466 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


its  proper  care  and  extension.  This  is  a  most  munificent  gift, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  wisdom  may  be  displayed  in  its  dis¬ 
position.  It  is  said  that  a  part  of  the  sum  may  be  used  as  an 
endowment  fund  for  a  school  of  design.  If  so,  Philadelphia  will 
probably  be,  in  this  respect  also,  the  most  fortunate  city  in  our 
country. 

The  noble  “  Drexel  Institute”  already  shows  what  may  be  accom¬ 
plished  with  wisely  expended  millions.  In  the  Art  Museum 
attached  to  this  great  educational  institution  are  some  most  beautiful 
and  costly  gifts  from  Mrs.  G.  W.  Childs,  and  from  Mrs.  J.  W. 
Paul,  Jr.,  in  memory  of  the  former’s  friend  and  the  latter’s  mother, 
the  late  Mrs.  A.  J.  Drexel.  Memorials  of  this  sort  reflect  lustre  as 
well  upon  those  who  bestow  them,  as  upon  those  whose  memories 
they  are  intended  to  perpetuate.  It  has  been  said  that  our  lives  are 
just  as  long  as  the  good  or  evil  we  have  done  shall  continue.  Money 
expended  in  this  way  may  not  seem  to  be  as  immediately  useful  as  if 
spent  upon  “charities,”  but  “in  the  long  run” — that  long  run 
which  only  the  far-sighted  can  discern — educational  influences  and 
opportunities  are  the  highest  and  farthest  reaching  kinds  of  charity, 
for  they  prevent  the  need  of  alms. 

Another  Philadelphia  woman  who  has  recognized  this  truth  is 
Mrs.  Bloomfield  Moore,  whose  generosity  in  many  lines  has  caused 
her  name  to  be  widely  known  and  loved.  Her  rich  and  varied  col¬ 
lection  of  objects  of  art  is  at  home  in  two  large  rooms  of  Memorial 
Hall.  It  includes  ceramics  of  various  countries  and  eras;  cabinet 
work,  ivory  carvings,  specimens  of  ancient  and  modem  Roman  and 
Florentine  jewelry;  laces,  textile  fabrics;  ancient  glass — especially 
some  beautiful  specimens  of  Venetian  and  Bohemian  wares, — wood 
carvings  of  much  curious  or  artistic  interest  and  value;  book-bindings 
of  wood  and  leather,  illuminated  missals,  silverware  and  fine  old 
Flemish  tapestries.  While  not  complete  in  any  one  department,  this 
costly  collection  of  rare  articles  is  of  great  value  as  being  fairly 
representative  of  many  lines  of  industrial  art, 

To  Philadelphia  also  belongs  the  credit  of  being  the  pioneer 
American  city  in  the  field  of  industiial-art  training,  and  it  owes  this 
worthy  precedence  to  the  enthusiastic  interest  of  a  woman — Mrs. 
Sarah  Peter.  In  her  own  house,  nearly  fifty  years  ago,  she  formed 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


467 


a  class  of  young  girls,  for  whose  instruction  she  employed  and  paid 
a  teacher.  This  formed  the  nucleus  of  what  has  grown  to  be  the 
“Philadelphia  School  of  Design  for  Women,”  a  large  and  useful 
institution  which  has  since  been  generously  aided  by  both  men  and 
women. 

The  city  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  has  been  especially  favored  with 
women  who  have  exerted  themselves,  or  exercised  their  inflence  over 
others,  to  establish  art  schools  and  galleries.  Several  years  ago 
Mrs.  Harriet  Kester  started,  at  her  own  residence  in  Cleveland,  a 
school  of  design  for  women.  At  first  it  had  but  one  pupil.  In  the 
course  of  three  years  it  became  necessary  to  engage  rooms  large 
enough  to  accomodate  300  pupils,  and  the  gifts  and  labors  of  Mrs. 
Kester  were  supplemented  by  those  of  other  women  of  taste  and 
liberality.  Then  it  became  known  as  the  “School  of  Art,”  and  has 
now  its  home  in  a  building  provided  by  the  estate  of  the  late  Mr. 
Thomas  Kelly.  This  estate  is  indefinitely  described  as  “  large,”  and 
was  bequeathed  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  art  school  and 
gallery  in  Cleveland.  It  is  said  to  be  “  well  known  that  the  estate 
was  so  devised  by  Mr.  Kelly  in  response  to  the  expressed  wishes  of 
his  wife.” 

Another  Cleveland  woman — Mrs.  H.  B.  Hurlbut — is  not  only  car¬ 
rying  out,  but  exceeding  the  wishes  of  her  husband,  who  left  to  her 
the  use  of  his  estate  during  her  life  time,  the  principal  to  be  subse¬ 
quently  devoted  to  the  erection  and  endowment  of  an  art-gallery. 
Mrs.  Hurlbut  is  devoting  all  of  her  large  income,  that  is  in  excess  of 
her  actual  needs,  to  increasing  the  collection  of  paintings  left  by  her 
husband,  and  doing  everything  possible  to  pave  the  way  for  the 
erection  of  a  great  gallery,  which  will  probably  be  united  to  the  art- 
school  founded  by  Mrs.  Kester  and  endowed  by  Mr.  Kelly. 

In  Baltimore  we  find  a  flourishing  art-school  which  is  under  the 
direction  of  its  chief  promoter,  Miss  A.  M.  Hill.  She  has  been  un¬ 
sparing  in  her  efforts  to  make  this  school  one  worthy  of  its  beautiful 
city,  and  has  given  not  only  her  own  time,  but  thousands  of  dollars 
towards  its  support,  besides  collecting  much  from  others. 

Concerning  the  donations  of  women  to  the  art  museum  of  Boston, 
Mass. ,  we  have  only  been  able  to  learn  that  something  more  than  one- 
fifth  of  the  cash  donations,  and  about  one-third  of  the  works  of  art 


468 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


that  have  been  given,  have  come  from  women.  It  is  estimated  that 
altogether  the  cash  value  of  these  gifts  would  amount  to  about  a 
quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars.  Further  details  are  lacking.  It  required 
more  than  twenty  letters  to  eighteen  different  individuals  and  places, 
to  elicit  this  meagre  information  concerning  what  women  have  done 
to  promote  art  study  in  one  of  the  oldest  and  cultured  cities  in  our 
Union. 

We  have  already  advei.ed  to  the  work  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Peter  in 
Philadelphia.  We  now  follow  the  same  enthusiastic  lover  of  the  arts 
to  Cincinnati,  where  in  1854  there  was  formed,  under  her  leadership, 
an  association  of  women  for  the  purpose  of  founding  and  maintaining 
the  “  Cincinnati  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.”  Comparatively  few  of  the 
names  of  the  many  women  who  belonged  to  this  association  have 
been  preserved.  This  is  to  be  much  regretted,  for  they  appear  to 
haye  been  the  first  body  of  women  in  America  to  appreciate  the  art- 
needs  of  the  country,  and  to  set  about  supplying  those  of  their  own 
city.  During  the  first  year  they  collected  more  than  $9,000  for  this 
purpose.  The  amount  of  zealous  work  which  this  implies  can  only 
be  appreciated  by  those  who  have  had  a  hand  in  raising  for  a  pur¬ 
pose  which  does  not  appeal  strongly  to  the  popular  mind,  a  similar 
sum  in  small  subscriptions.  Single  donations  of  $100,000,  when  ob¬ 
tained  at  all,  usually  cost  less  effort  on  the  part  of  the  collector  than 
a  half  a  dozen  collections  of  $5.00  each.  In  the  sum  of  $9, 221. 45, 
raised  by  the  Cincinnati  women  at  this  time,  is  not  included  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  a  journey  to  Europe  undertaken  by  Mrs.  Peter  at  her  own 
cost,  expressly  to  make  purchases  for  the  infant  gallery. 

In  the  first  year  of  its  existence  this  Association  opened  a  tempo¬ 
rary  exhibition  of  paintings  loaned  by  citizens.  It  was  plainly  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  women  interested  to  develop  in  its  full  dimensions 
the  institution  they  had  in  view.  But  they  knew  the  value  of  ex¬ 
ample;  the  work  of  even  a  single  seed  in  a  fruitful  soil. 

To  give  to  this  band  of  Cincinnati  women  the  credit  which  is  their 
due,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  was  not  until  three  years  later 
than  this — in  1857,  namely — that  even  in  England  the  idea  of  art 
applied  to  industrial  pursuits  crystallized,  under  the  fostering  care  of 
the  Prince  Consort,  into  the  grand  institution  known  as  the  South 
Kensington  Museum.  Yet  in  one  of  the  earliest  appeals  of  the 
“  Cincinnati  Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts,”  it  is  stated  that  “  a  part  of 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


469 


the  plan  of  the  gallery  is  the  establishment  of  a  school  of  design, 
wherein  art  may  be  taught  as  an  occupation,  and  from  which  genius 
and  skill  may  go  forth  with  the  means  of  obtaining  honorable  liveli¬ 
hood  by  the  exercise  of  their  accomplishments  and  taste.” 

For  their  early  grasp  of  this  advanced  idea  the  women  of  America, 
and,  above  all,  of  Cincinnati,  have  already  received  much  grateful 
recognition.  They  deserve  still  more.  Yet,  with  all  our  admiration 
for  this  band  of  noble  women,  we  would  not  forget  that  without  the 
munificent  aid  of  noble  men  they  would  not  have  been  able  to  carry 
their  ideas  into  successful  operation. 

Even  in  1876  the  work  of  the  School  of  Design,  thus  established, 
had  grown  to  such  proportions  that  the  amateur  work  in  over-glaze 
china  painting,  exhibited  at  the  Centennial  Exposition  by  Cincinnati 
women,  attracted  the  attention  of  all  interested  in  the  industrial-art 
progress  of  our  country.  It  is  true  that  this  work  was  then  sadly  in¬ 
ferior  to  the  professional  work  of  the  same  kind  exhibited  by  older 
nations.  Now— and  with  what  honest  pride  we  can  say  it! — the 
work  of  the  Rockwood  Company  need  not  blush  to  find  itself  side 
by  side  with  that  of  many  Old  World  potteries  of  wide  celebrity. 

It  was  after  the  close  of  the  Centennial  Exposition  that  the  Cincin¬ 
nati  women  resolved  to  dissolve  the  original  “Association,”  and 
start  anew  with  the  sole  aim  of  advancing  women’s  work.  What  the 
result  of  this,  and  similar  efforts  elsewhere  have  been  will  doubtless 
appear  in  another  chapter  of  this  book.  The  present  chapter  has 
only  to  do  with  the  share  borne  by  women  in  founding  and  endow¬ 
ing  art  institutions.  In  Cincinnati  alone  this  roll  of  honor  includes 
nearly  300  names. 

In  1879  Miss  McLaughlin  and  Mrs.  Maria  Longworth  Nichols 
paid  for  the  building  of  an  under-glaze  and  of  an  over-glaze  kiln  at 
one  of  Cincinnati’s  common  potteries.  From  this  beginning  came 
the  establishment  by  Mrs.  Nichols,  during  the  next  year,  and  after¬ 
wards  maintaining  it  until  it  became  self-supporting,  of  the  now  so 
justly- celebrated  “Rockwood  Pottery.”  Concerning  the  early  his¬ 
tory  and  achievements  of  this  establishment  our  readers  must  be 
referred  to  an  article  by  the  Cincinnati  Art  Association’s  indefatig¬ 
able  secretary — Mrs.  Elizabeth  W.  Perry — which  was  printed  in 
Harper’s  Magazine  for  May,  1881.  Since  that  time,  however,  its 
progress  has  been  immense.  The  history  of  the  last  decade  has  been 


470 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


one  of  constant  progression,  and  the  Rockvvood  wares  have  become 
a  subject  of  pride  to  every  patriotic  American. 

*  The  men  of  our  Great  West  have  ever  been  proverbially  generous 
in  their  estimate  of  women  and  women’s  work.  Hence  we  are  not 
surprised  that  a  director  of  Chicago’s  promising  “Art-Institute” 
should  write — “We  owe  some  of  our  most  valued  possessions  to 
women.  Our  collection  of  casts,  second  in  extent  in  the  United 
States,  is  the  gift  of  Mrs.  A.  M.  H.  Ellis.  The  greater  part  of  our 
reference  library  on  Fine  Art  is  the  gift  of  the  same  generous 
woman.  The  Society  of  Decorative  Art,  wholly  of  women,  is 
making  for  us  a  fine  collection  of  textile  fabrics  and  laces.  Many  of 
our  smaller  gifts,  in  all  lines,  are  from  women;  while  the  only  free 
scholarship  in  our  art  school  is  that  founded  by  the  ‘  Woman’s  Club 
of  Chicago,’  for  the  girl  graduates  of  our  high  schools.” 

Chicago’s  “  Art  Institute  ”  is  very  young  yet,  but  her  women,  as 
well  as  her  men,  are  generous  and  public-spirited.  Much  is  to  be 
expected  from  them. 

And  now  with  a  saddened  heart — we  turn  from  progressive  Chicago 
to  what  has  been  termed  ‘  ‘  the  least  public-spirited  city  in  our  Union, 
our  beautiful,  yet  almost  art-less  Capital. 

In  Washington  there  is  no  evidence  of  a  general  appreciation  of 
art.  Public  buildings  are  imposing  in  design  and  magnificent  in  size 
and  material;  while  statues  of  various  degrees  of  merit,  and  demerit, 
abound  in  its  charming  plazas;  but  there  are  few  paintings  or  sculp¬ 
tures  worthy  of  preservation,  and  no  art  gallery  save  the  Corcoran, 
which,  fine  as  it  is,  is  but  a  monument  to  the  munificence  of  one  man. 
In  this  building  we  find  a  room  devoted  to  a  fine  miscellaneous  col¬ 
lection  of  pictures,  sculptures  and  objects  of  art,  bequeathed  by  the 
late  Mrs.  Ogle  Tayloe.  We  can  but  be  grateful  to  her  that  she  has 
not  left  the  patronage  of  art  in  our  nation’s  capital  to  be  unrepresented 
by  women.  The  chief  pride  of  the  Tayloe  Collection  is  an  original 
Stuart  portrait  of  Washington,  said  to  be  the  finest  known. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  many  women  have  contributed  nobly  to 
found  and  endow  art  institutions,  whose  labors  and  donations  have 
been  merged  into  those  of  public-spirited  men.  If  the  names  of  many 
who  deserve  remembrance  are  here  omitted,  we  can  but  express  our 
sincere  regret.  To  such  women,  one  and  all,  known  and  unknown, 
the  thanks  of  a  grateful  country  are  due. 


EXPOSITION  NOTES. 


Mrs.  Potter  Palmer. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 


ADDRESS  AT  THE  DEDICATORY 
CEREMONIES, 


October  21,  1892. 


BY  MRS.  POTTER  PALMER, 


President  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  World’s  Columbian  Commission. 


Mrs.  Potter  Palmer  needs  no  introduction  to  the  women  of  America.  As  President  of  the 
Board  of  Lady  Managers  of  the  World’s  Columbian  Exposition,  her  efficient  labors,  executive 
ability  and  constant  courtesy,  have  gained  for  her  the  admiration  of  all  who  have  been  so 
favored  as  to  make  either  her  personal  or  official  acquaintance.  It  is  very  fitting  that  this 
Exposition  Souvenir  should  include  her  felicitous  address  at  the  Dedicatory  Ceremonies. — Ed. 


FFICIAL  representation  for  women,  upon  so  important  an  occa- 


\_y  sion  as  the  present,  is  unprecedented.  It  seems  peculiarly 
appropriate  that  this  honor  should  have  been  accorded  our  sex  when 
celebrating  the  great  deeds  of  Columbus,  who,  inspired  though  his 
visions  may  have  been,  yet  required  the  aid  of  an  Isabella  to  transform 
them  into  realities. 

The  visible  evidences  of  the  progress  made  since  the  discovery  of 
this  great  continent  will  be  collected  six  months  hence  in  these 
stately  buildings  now  to  be  dedicated. 

The  magnificent  material  exhibit,  the  import  of  which  will  pres¬ 
ently  be  eloquently  described  by  our  orators,  will  not,  however,  so 
vividly  represent  the  great  advance  of  modern  thought  as  does  the 
fact  that  man’s  “silent  partner”  has  been  invited  by  the  Govern¬ 
ment  to  leave  her  retirement  to  assist  in  conducting  a  great  national 
enterprise.  The  provision  of  the  Act  of  Congress  that  the  Board  of 
Lady  Managers  appoint  a  jury  of  her  peers  to  pass  judgment  upon 
woman’s  work,  adds  to  the  significance  of  the  innovation,  for  never 
before  was  it  thought  necessary  to  apply  this  fundamental  principle 
of  justice  to  our  sex. 


474 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Realizing  the  seriousness  of  the  responsibilities  devolving  upon  it, 
and  inspired  by  a  sense  of  the  nobility  of  its  mission,  the  Board  has, 
from  the  time  of  its  organization,  attempted  most  thoroughly  and 
most  conscientiously  to  carry  out  the  intentions  of  Congress. 

It  has  been  able  to  broaden  the  scope  of  its  work  and  extend  its 
influence  through  the  co-operation  and  assistance  so  generously  fur¬ 
nished  by  the  Columbian  Commission  and  the  Board  of  Directors  of 
the  Exposition.  The  latter  took  the  initiative  in  making  an  appro¬ 
priation  for  the  Woman’s  Building,  and  in  allowing  the  Board  to  call 
attention  to  the  recent  work  of  women  in  new  fields  by  selecting 
from  their  own  sex  the  architect,  decorators,  sculptors  and  painters 
to  create  both  the  building  and  its  adornments. 

Rivalling  the  generosity  of  the  Directors,  the  National  Commission 
has  honored  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  by  putting  into  its  hands 
all  of  the  interests  of  women  in  connection  with  the  Exposition,  as 
well  as  the  entire  control  of  the  Woman’s  Building. 

In  order  the  more  efficiently  to  perform  the  important  functions 
assigned  it,  the  Board  hastened  to  secure  necessary  co-operation. 
At  its  request  women  were  made  members  of  the  World’s  Fair 
Boards  of  almost  every  State  and  Territory  of  the  Union.  Inspired 
by  this  success  at  home,  it  had  the  courage  to  attempt  to  extend  the 
benefits  it  had  received  to  the  women  of  other  countries.  It 
officially  invited  all  foreign  governments  which  had  decided  to 
participate  in  the  Exposition  to  appoint  committees  of  women  to  co¬ 
operate  with  it.  The  active  help  given  by  the  Department  of  State 
was  invaluable  in  promoting  this  plan,  the  success  of  which  has  been 
notable,  for  we  now  have  under  the  patronage  of  royalty,  or  the 
heads  of  Government,  committees  composed  of  the  most  influential, 
intellectual  and  practical  women  in  France,  England,  Germany, 
Austria,  Russia,  Italy,  Holland,  Belgium,  Sweden,  Norway,  Portu¬ 
gal,  Japan,  Siam,  Algeria,  Cape  Colony,  Ceylon,  Brazil,  the  Argen¬ 
tine  Republic,  Cuba,  Mexico  and  Nicaragua,  and  although  commit¬ 
tees  have  not  yet  been  announced,  favorable  responses  have  been 
received  from  Spain,  Colombia,  Ecuador,  Venezuela,  Panama  and 
the  Sandwich  Islands. 

No  organization  comparable  to  this  has  ever  before  existed  among 
women.  It  is  official,  acting  under  Government  authority  and 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


475 


sustained  by  Government  funds.  It  is  so  far-reaching  that  it  en¬ 
circles  the  globe. 

Without  touching  upon  politics,  suffrage  or  other  irrelevant  issues, 
this  unique  organization  of  women  for  women  will  devote  itself  to  the 
promotion  of  their  industrial  interests.  It  will  address  itself  to  the 
formation  of  a  public  sentiment,  which  will  favor  woman’s  industrial 
equality,  and  her  receiving  just  compensation  for  services  rendered. 
It  will  try  to  secure  for  her  work  the  consideration  and  respect  which 
it  deserves,  and  establish  her  importance  as  an  economic  factor.  To 
this  end,  it  will  endeavor  to  obtain  and  install  in  these  buildings  ex¬ 
hibits,  showing  the  value  of  her  contributions  to  the  industries, 
sciences  and  arts,  as  well  as  statistics  giving  the  proportionate 
amount  of  her  work  in  every  country 

Of  all  the  changes  that  have  resulted  from  the  great  ingenuity  and 
inventiveness  of  the  race,  there  is  none  that  equals  in  importance  to 
woman,  the  application  of  machinery  to  the  performance  of  the  never- 
ending  tasks  that  have  previously  been  hers.  The  removal  from  the 
household  to  the  various  factories  where  such  work  is  now  done,  of 
spinning,  carding,  dyeing,  knitting,  the  weaving  of  textile  fabrics, 
sewing,  the  cutting  and  making  of  garments,  and  many  other  labor¬ 
ious  occupations,  has  enabled  her  to  lift  her  eyes  from  the  drudgery 
that  has  oppressed  her  since  prehistoric  days. 

The  result  is  that  women  as  a  sex  have  been  liberated.  They  now 
have  time  to  think,  to  be  educated,  to  plan  and  pursue  careers  of 
their  own  choosing.  Consider  the  value  to  the  race  of  one-half  of  its 
members  being  enabled  to  throw  aside  the  intolerable  bondage  of  ig¬ 
norance  that  has  always  weighed  them  down!  See  the  innumerable 
technical,  professional,  and  art  schools,  academies  and  colleges,  that 
have  been  suddenly  called  into  existence  by  the  unwonted  demand! 
It  is  only  about  ioo  years  since  girls  were  first  permitted  to  attend 
the  free  schools  of  Boston.  They  were  then  allowed  to  take  the 
places  of  boys  for  whom  the  schools  were  instituted,  during  the  sea¬ 
son  when  the  latter  were  helping  to  gather  in  the  harvest. 

It  is  not  strange  that  woman  is  drinking  deeply  of  the  long-denied 
fountain  of  knowledge.  She  had  been  told,  until  she  almost  believed 
it,  by  her  physician,  that  she  was  of  too  delicate  and  nervous  an  or¬ 
ganization  to  endure  the  application  and  mental  strain  of  the  school 


476 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


room — by  the  scientist  that  the  quality  of  the  gray  matter  of  her 
brain  would  not  enable  her  to  grasp  the  exact  sciences,  and  that  its 
peculiar  convolutions  made  it  impossible  for  her  to  follow  a  logical 
proposition  from  premise  to  conclusion — by  her  anxious  parents  that 
there  was  nothing  that  a  man  so  abominated  as  a  learned  woman, 
nothing  so  unlovely  as  a  blue-stocking,  and  yet  she  comes,  smiling 
from  her  curriculum  with  her  honors  fresh  upon  her,  healthy  and 
wise,  forcing  us  to  acknowledge  that  she  is  more  than  ever  attractive, 
companionable,  and  useful. 

What  is  to  be  done  with  this  strong,  self-poised  creature  of  glowing 
imagination  and  high  ideals,  who  evidently  intends,  as  a  natural  and 
inherent  right,  to  pursue  her  self-development  in  her  chosen  line  of 
work  ?  Is  the  world  ready  to  give  her  industrial  and  intellectual  in¬ 
dependence,  and  to  open  all  doors  before  her  ?  The  human  race  is 
not  so  rich  in  talent,  genius,  and  useful  curative  energy,  that  it  can 
afford  to  allow  any  considerable  proportion  of  these  valuable  attrib¬ 
utes  to  be  wasted  or  unproductive,  even  though  they  may  be  pos¬ 
sessed  by  women. 

The  sex  which  numbers  more  than  one-half  the  population  of  the 
world  is  forced  to  enter  the  keen  competition  of  life  with  many  dis¬ 
advantages,  both  real  and  fictitious.  Are  the  legitimate  compensa¬ 
tion  and  honors  that  should  come  as  the  result  of  ability  and  merit  to 
be  denied  on  the  untenable  ground  of  sex  aristocracy  ? 

We  are  told  by  scientists  that  the  educated  eye  and  ear  of  to-day 
are  capable  of  detecting  subtle  harmonies  and  delicate  gradations  of 
sound  and  color  that  were  imperceptible  to  our  ancestors;  that  artists 
and  musicians  will  consequently  never  reach  the  last  possible  combi¬ 
nation  of  tones,  or  of  tints,  because  their  fields  will  widen  before  them, 
disclosing  constantly  new  beauties  and  attractions.  We  cannot 
doubt  that  human  intelligence  will  gain  as  much  by  development; 
that  it  will  vibrate  with  new  power  because  of  the  uplifting  of  one- 
half  of  its  members — and  of  that  half,  which  is,  perhaps,  conceded  to 
be  the  more  moral,  sympathetic,  and  imaginative — from  darkness 
into  light. 

As  a  result  of  the  freedom  and  training  now  granted  them,  we 
may  confidently  await,  not  a  renaissance,  but  the  first  blooming  of 
the  perfect  flower  of  womanhood.  After  centuries  of  careful  pruning 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


Ml 


into  conventional  shapes,  to  meet  the  requirements  of  an  artificial 
standard,  the  shears  and  props  have  been  thrown  away.  We  shall 
learn  by  watching  the  beauty  and  the  vigor  of  the  natural  growth  in 
the  open  air  and  sunshine,  how  artificial  and  false  was  the  ideal  we 
had  previously  cherished.  Our  efforts  to  frustrate  Nature  will  seem 
grotesque,  for  she  may  always  be  trusted  to  preserve  her  types. 
Our  utmost  hope  is,  that  woman  may  become  a  more  congenial  com¬ 
panion  and  fit  partner  foi  her  illustrious  mate,  whose  destiny  she  has 
shared  during  the  centuries. 

We  are  proud  that  the  statesmen  of  our  own  great  country  have 
been  first  to  see  beneath  the  surface  and  to  understand  that  the  old 
order  of  things  has  passed  away,  and  that  new  methods  must  be  in¬ 
augurated.  We  wish  to  express  our  thanks  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  for  having  made  this  great  step  forward,  and  also  for 
having  subsequently  approved  and  endorsed  the  plans  of  the  Board 
of  Lady  Managers,  as  was  manifested  by  their  liberal  appropriation 
for  carrying  them  out. 

We  most  heartily  appreciate  the  assistance  given  us  by  the  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  United  States,  the  Department  of  State,  and  our  foreign 
Ministers.  We  hope  to  have  occasion  to  thank  all  of  the  other  great 
departments  of  the  Government  before  we  finish  our  work. 

Even  more  important  than  the  discovery  of  Columbus,  which  we 
are  gathered  together  to  celebrate,  is  the  fact  that  the  general  Gov¬ 
ernment  has  just  discovered  woman.  It  has  sent  out  a  flash-light 
from  its  heights,  so  inaccessible  to  us,  which  we  shall  answer  by  a  re¬ 
turn  signal  when  the  Exposition  is  opened.  What  will  be  its  next 
message  to  us  ? 


478 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


COLUMBIA’S  BANNER. 

ODE  FOR  COLUMBUS  DAY. 

BY  EDNA  DEAN  PROCTOR. 

'•  Furnished  for  the  National  Columbian  Public  School  Celebration  by  the  Youth's  Compan¬ 
ion."  Permission  is  kindly  granted  by  the  editors  to  re-print  the  poem  in  the  Souvenir. 

“  God  helping  me,”  cried  Columbus,  “though  fair  or  foul  the  breeze, 

I  will  sail  and  sail  till  I  find  the  land  beyond  the  western  seas!  ” 

So  an  eagle  might  leave  its  eyry,  bent,  though  the  blue  should  bar, 

To  fold  its  wings  on  the  loftiest  peak  of  an  undiscovered  star! 

And  into  the  vast  and  void  abyss  he  followed  the  setting  sun; 

Nor  gulfs  nor  gales  could  fright  his  sails  till  the  wondrous  quest  was  done. 
But  Oh,  the  weary  vigils,  the  murmuring,  torturing  days, 

Till  the  Pinta’s  gun,  and  the  shout  of  “  Land!  ”  set  the  black  night  ablaze! 
Till  the  shore  lay  fair  as  Paradise  in  morning’s  balm  and  gold, 

And  a  world  was  won  from  the  conquered  deep,  and  the  tale  of  the  ages  told! 
Uplift  the  starry  Banner!  The  best  age  is  begun! 

We  are  the  heirs  of  the  mariners  whose  voyage  that  mom  was  done. 
Measureless  lands  Columbus  gave  and  rivers  through  zones  that  roll, 

But  his  rarest,  noblest  bounty  was  a  New  World  for  the  Soul! 

For  he  sailed  from  the  Past  with  its  stilling  walls,  to  the  Future’s  open  sky. 
And  the  ghosts  of  gloom  and  fear  were  laid  as  the  breath  of  heaven  went  by; 
And  the  pedant's  pride  and  the  lordling’s  scorn  were  lost  in  that  vital  air, 

As  fogs  are  lost  when  sun  and  wind  sweep  ocean  blue  and  bare; 

And  Freedom  and  larger  Knowledge  dawned  clear,  the  sky  to  span, 

The  birthright,  not  of  priest  or  king,  but  of  every  child  of  man! 

Uplift  the  New  World’s  Banner  to  greet  the  exultant  sun! 

Let  its  rosy  gleams  still  follow  his  beams  as  swift  to  west  they  run, 

Till  the  wide  air  rings  with  shout  and  hymn  to  welcome  it  shining  high. 

Aud  our  eagle  from  lone  Katahdin  to  Shasta’s  snow  can  fly 
In  the  light  of  its  stars  as  fold  on  fold  is  flung  to  the  autumn  sky! 

Uplift  it!  Youths  and  Maidens,  with  songs  and  loving  cheers; 

Through  triumphs,  raptures,  it  has  waved,  through  agonies  and  tears. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


479 


Columbia  looks  from  sea  to  sea  and  thrills  with  joy  to  know 
Her  myriad  sons,  as  one,  would  leap  to  shield  it  from  a  foe! 

And  you  who  soon  will  be  the  State,  and  shape  each  great  decree, 

Oh,  vow  to  live  and  die  for  it,  if  glorious  death  must  be! 

The  brave  of  all  the  centuries  gone  this  starry  Flag  have  wrought; 

In  dungeons  dim,  on  gory  fields,  its  light  and  peace  were  bought; 

And  you  who  front  the  future — whose  days  our  dreams  fulfill — 

On  Liberty’s  immortal  height,  oh,  plant  it  firmer  still! 

For  it  floats  for  broadest  learning;  for  the  soul’s  supreme  release; 

For  law  disdaining  license;  for  righteousness  and  peace; 

For  valor  bom  of  justice,  and  its  amplest  scope  and  plan 
Makes  a  queen  of  every  woman,  a  king  of  every  man! 

While  forever,  like  Columbus,  o’er  Truth’s  unfathomed  main 
It  pilots  to  the  hidden  isles,  a  grander  realm  to  gain. 

Ah!  what  a  mighty  trust  is  ours,  the  noblest  ever  sung, 

To  keep  this  Banner  spotless  its  kindred  stars  among! 

Our  fleets  may  throng  the  oceans — our  forts  the  headlanos  crown — 

Our  mines  their  treasures  lavish  for  mint  and  mart  and  town — 

Rich  fields  and  flocks  and  busy  looms  bring  plenty,  far  and  wide— 

And  statelier  temples  deck  the  land  than  Rome’s  or  Athens’  pride — 
And  science  dares  the  mysteries  of  earth  and  wave  and  sky — 

Till  none  with  us  in  splendor  and  strength  and  skill  can  vie; 

Yet,  should  we  reckon  Liberty  and  Manhood  less  than  these, 

And  slight  the  right  of  the  humblest  between  our  circling  seas — 

Should  we  be  false  to  our  sacred  past,  our  Fathers’  God  forgetting, 

This  Banner  would  lose  its  luster,  our  sun  be  nigh  his  setting! 

But  the  dawn  will  sooner  forget  the  east,  the  tides  their  ebb  and  flow, 
Than  you  forget  our  Radiant  Flag  and  its  matchless  gifts  forego! 

Nay!  you  will  keep  it  high-advanced  with  ever  brightening  sway — 

The  Banner  whose  light  betokens  the  Lord’s  diviner  day — 

Leading  the  nations  gloriously  in  Freedom’s  holy  way! 

No  cloud  on  the  field  of  azure — no  stain  on  the  rosy  bars- 

God  bless  you.  Youths  and  Maidens,  as  you  guard  the  Stripes  and  Stars! 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 


THE  PURPOSES  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY 
MANAGERS  OF  THE  WORLD’S  COLUM¬ 


BIAN  COMMISSION. 


HE  Board  of  Lady  Managers  of  the  World’s  Columbian  Com- 


1  mission,  having  been  created  and  authorized  by  the  concurrent 
action  of  Congress  and  the  Columbian  Commission,  to  take  entire 
charge  of  the  interests  of  women  at  the  coming  Exposition,  desires 
to  develope  to  the  fullest  extent  the  grand  possibilities  which  have 
been  placed  within  its  reach. 

The  Board  wishes  to  mark  the  first  participation  of  women  in  an 
important  national  enterprise,  by  preparing  an  object  lesson  to  show 
their  progress  made  in  every  country  of  the  world,  during  the  cen¬ 
tury  in  which  educational  and  other  privileges  have  been  granted 
them  and  to  show  the  increased  usefulness  that  has  resulted  from  the 
enlargement  of  their  opportunities. 

It  is  of  the  first  importance  that  such  a  representative  collection  be 
secured  from  every  country  as  will  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  ex¬ 
tent  and  value  of  what  is  being  done  by  women  in  the  arts,  sciences 
and  industries.  We  shall  thus  aim  to  show  to  the  breadwinners,  who 
are  fighting  unaided  the  batde  of  life,  the  new  avenues  of  employment 
that  are  constantly  being  opened  to  women,  and  in  which  of  these  their 
work  will  be  of  the  most  distinct  value  by  reason  of  their  natural 
adaptability,  sensitive  and  artistic  temperaments,  and  individual 
tastes;  what  education  will  best  enable  them  to  enjoy  the  wider  oppor¬ 
tunities  awaiting  them  and  make  their  work  of  the  greatest  worth, 
not  only  to  themselves  but  to  the  world. 

The  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  therefore,  invites  the  women  of  all 
countries  to  participate  in  this  great  exhibit  of  woman’s  work,  to  the 
end  that  it  may  be  made  not  only  national,  but  universal,  and  that 
all  may  profit  by  a  free  comparison  of  methods,  agencies  and  results. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


481 


The  Board  has  decided  that  in  the  general  Exposition  buildings, 
where  the  competitive  exhibits  will  be  placed,  it  will  not  separate  the 
exhibit  of  women’s  work  from  that  of  men,  for  the  reason  that  as 
women  are  working  side  by  side  with  men  in  all  the  factories  of  the 
world,  it  would  be  practically  impossible,  in  most  cases,  to  divide  the 
finished  result  of  their  combined  work;  nor  would  women  be  satisfied 
with  prizes  unless  they  were  awarded  without  distinction  as  to  sex, 
and  as  the  result  of  fair  competition  with  the  best  work  shown. 
They  are  striving  for  excellence,  and  desire  recognition  only  for 
demonstrated  merit.  In  order,  however,  that  the  enormous  amount 
of  work  being  done  by  women  may  be  appreciated,  a  tabulated  state¬ 
ment  will  be  procured  and  shown  with  every  exhibit,  stating  the  pro¬ 
portion  of  woman’s  work  that  enters  into  it. 

The  Board  of  Lady  Managers  has  been  granted  by  Act  of  Con¬ 
gress  the  great  and  unusual  privilege  of  appointing  members  of  each 
jury  to  award  prizes  for  articles  into  which  woman’s  work  enters. 
The  number  of  women  on  each  jury  will  be  proportioned  to  the 
amount  of  work  done  by  women  in  the  corresponding  department  of 
classification.  The  statement  as  to  the  amount  of  their  work  will 
therefore  be  of  double  significance,  for  in  addition  to  the  impressive 
showing  of  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  heavy  work  of  the  world 
is  being  performed  by  the  weaker  sex,  it  will  also  determine  the 
amount  of  jury  representation  to  which  the  Board  is  entitled. 

Besides  the  foregoing  extensive  exhibit,  women  will  have  another 
opportunity  of  displaying  work  of  superior  excellence  in  a  very  ad¬ 
vantageous  way  in  the  Woman’s  Building,  over  which  the  Board  of 
Lady  Managers  will  exercise  complete  control.  In  its  central  gallery 
it  is  intended  to  have  grouped  the  most  brilliant  achievements  of 
women  from  every  country  and  in  every  line  of  work.  Exhibits  here 
will  be  admitted  only  by  invitation,  which  will  be  considered  the 
equivalent  of  a  prize.  No  sentimental  sympathy  for  women  will 
cause  the  admission  of  second-rate  objects,  for  the  highest  standard 
of  excellence  is  to  be  here  strictly  maintained.  Commissions  of 
women  organized  in  all  countries,  as  auxiliaries  to  the  Board  of  Lady 
Managers,  will  be  asked  to  recommend  objects  of  special  excellence 
produced  by  women,  and  producers  of  such  successful  work  will  be 
invited  to  place  specimens  in  the  gallery  of  the  Woman’s  Building. 


482 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


In  order  to  disprove  the  frequently  made  statement  that  women  do 
not  possess  creative  minds,  it  is  desired  that  we  show  (what  archaeol¬ 
ogists  concede  to  be  true)  that  the  industrial  arts,  among  all  primitive 
peoples,  were  almost  exclusively  invented  and  carried  on  by  women. 

They  originated  the  art  of  cooking  and  the  preparation  of  food, 
including  the  grinding  of  grain  and  the  making  of  bread;  the  curing 
of  skins  and  furs  and  the  shaping  of  them  into  garments;  the  inven¬ 
tion  and  use  of  needles,  and  the  twisting  of  various  fibres  into  threads 
for  sewing  and  knitting;  the  weaving  of  textile  fabrics;  the  use  of 
vegetable  dyes;  the  art  of  basket-making;  the  modelling  of  clay  into 
jars  and  vases  for  domestic  use,  and  also  their  ornamentation  and 
decoration. 

When  these  arts  became  profitable  they  were  appropriated  by  men. 
It  is  desirable,  therefore,  that  we  show  the  chronological  history  of 
the  origin,  development  and  progress  of  the  industries  carried  on  by 
women  from  the  earliest  time  down  to  the  present  day. 

Not  only  has  woman  become  an  immense,  although  generally  un¬ 
recognized,  factor  in  the  industrial  world,  but  hers  being  essentially 
the  arts  of  peace  and  progress,  her  best  work  is  shown  in  the  num¬ 
berless  charitable,  reformatory,  educational  and  other  beneficent 
institutions  which  she  has  had  the  courage  and  the  ideality  to  estab¬ 
lish  for  the  alleviation  of  suffering,  for  the  correction  of  many  forms 
of  social  injustice  and  neglect,  and  for  the  reformation  of  long 
established  wrongs.  These  institutions  exert  a  strong  and  steady  in¬ 
fluence  for  good,  an  influence  which  tends  to  decrease  vice,  to  make 
useful  citizens  of  the  helpless  or  depraved,  to  elevate  the  standard  of 
morality,  and  to  increase  the  sum  of  human  happiness;  thus  most 
effectively  supplementing  the  best  efforts  and  furthering  the  highest 
aims  of  all  government. 

All  organizations  of  women  must  be  impressed  with  the  necessity 
of  making  an  effective  showing  of  the  noble  work  which  each  is 
carrying  on.  We  especially  desire  to  have  represented,  in  the  rooms 
reserved  for  that  purpose,  the  educational  work  originated  or  carried 
on  by  women,  from  the  Kindergarten  organization  up  to  the  highest 
branches  of  education,  including  all  schools  of  applied  science  and 
art,  such  as  training  schools  for  nurses,  manual  training,  industrial 
art  and  cooking  schools,  domestic  economy,  sanitation,  etc.  When 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN.  483 

not  practically  exhibited,  the  work  of  all  such  organizations  will 
be  shown  by  maps,  charts,  photographs,  relief  models,  etc. ;  but  it  is 
earnestly  hoped  that  one,  at  least,  the  most  representative  institution 
in  each  of  these  branches,  will  be  shown  from  every  country,  in  order 
that  a  comparison  may  be  made  of  methods  and  results. 


NOT  MATTER,  BUT  MIND. 

THE  WOMAN’S  BRANCH  OF  THE  WORLD’S 
CONGRESS  AUXILIARY. 


MRS.  POTTER  PALMER,  President.  MRS.  CHARLES  HENROTIN,  Vice-President. 


Note. — Mixed  Committees  are  not  appointed,  but  Committees  of  Women 
are  appointed  to  take  action  on  appropriate  subjects. 


THE  FOLLOWING  ARE  THE 

Committees  of  the  Woman’s  Branch  of  the  Auxiliary, 

WITH  THE  CHAIRMEN: 

The  Woman’s  General  Committee  on  World’s  Congresses, 

Mrs,  Potter  Palmer,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Art, 

Miss  Sarah  H.  Hallowell,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World's  Congress  Committee  on  Education, 

Mrs.  Henry  M.  Wilmarth,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Manual  and  Art  Education, 
Miss  Josephine  C.  Locke,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Kindergarten  Education, 
Mrs.  E.  W.  Blatchford,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Higher  Education, 

Mrs.  Harriet  C.  Brainard.  Chairmaji. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Government  and  Law 
Reform, — Mrs.  Myra  Bradwell,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Literature, 

Mrs.  Charles  Henrotin,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Labor 
Mrs.  J.  D.  Harvey,  Chairman. 


484 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  General  Medicine  and 
Surgery, — Dr.  Sarah  Hackett  Stevenson,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Homeopathic  Medicine  and 
Surgery, — Dr.  Julia  Holmes  Smith,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Public  Health, 

Dr.  Sarah  H.  Brayton,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Dentistry, 

Dr.  H.  F.  Lawrence,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Pharmacy, 

Dr.  Ida  H.  Roby,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Medical  Jurisprudence. 

Dr.  Harriet  C.  B.  Alexander,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Moral  and  Social  Reform, 
Mrs.  J.  M.  Flower,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Music, 

Mrs.  George  B.  Carpenter,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  the  Daily  Press, 

,Miss  Mary  H.  Krout,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Religion, 

Rev.  Augusta  J.  Chapin,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Christian  Missions, 

Mrs.  Franklin  W.  Fisk,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Science  and  Philosophy, 
Mrs.  Caroline  K.  Sherman,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Indian  Ethnology, 

Miss  Emma  C.  Sickels,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Temperance, 

Miss  Frances  E.  Willard,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Municipal  Order, 

Mrs.  Henry  Wade  Rogers,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Household  Economics, 

Mrs.  John  Wilkinson,  Chairman. 

The  Woman’s  World’s  Congress  Committee  on  Reception, 

.  Mrs.  George  L.  Dunlap,  Chairman. 


The  Woman’s  General  Committee  on  World’s  Congresses. 
Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  Chairman. 

Mrs.  Charles  Henrotin,  Vice-Chairman. 

Miss  Frances  E.  Willard,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Flower, 

Dr.  Sarah  Hackett  Stevenson,  Mrs.  O.  W.  Potter, 

Mrs.  John  C.  Coonley,  Mrs.  R  Hall  McCormick, 

Mrs.  Henry  M.  Wilmarth,  Mrs.  Wirt  Dexter, 

Mrs.  A.  L.  Chetlain,  Mrs.  Leander  Stone, 

Mrs.  Myra  Bradwell,  Miss  Nina  Gray  Lunt. 

Miss  N.  Halsted,  Secretary  of  the  Committee. 


CHAPTER  L. 


THE  WOMAN’S  BUILDING. 


HE  Woman’s  Building  is  situated  near  one  of  the  principal  en- 


1  trances  to  the  Exposition  grounds  and  on  one  side  of  the  grand 
quadrangle  around  which  the  main  buildings  are  placed.  It  com¬ 
mands  from  its  balconies  and  roof  garden  a  superb  view  of  the 
Exposition  grounds,  buildings,  and  the  lake  beyond.  The  building 
is  400  feet  long  and  200  feet  wide,  and  was  constructed  for  the  Board 
of  Lady  Managers  by  the  directors  at  a  cost  of  $200,000. 

It  is  intended  that  this  building  and  all  its  contents  shall  be  the  in¬ 
spiration  of  woman’s  genius,  and  that  in  it  shall  be  provided  all  con¬ 
veniences  and  comforts  for  women  during  the  time  of  the  Exposition. 
The  design  was  selected  from  a  number  of  competitive  sketches  sub¬ 
mitted  by  women  architects.  It  has  both  land  and  water  entrances, 
and  from  the  vestibule  at  each  of  these  entrances  one  enters  the  main 
gallery,  which  occupies  the  center  of  the  building,  opening  to  the 
great  sky-light  in  the  roof  and  surrounded  by  a  colonnade  on  the 
second  floor.  This  gallery  will  be  devoted  to  showing  the  most  dis¬ 
tinguished  work  that  has  been  created  by  women. 

Distinct  impetus  has  already  been  given  to  woman’s  work  in 
various  directions  by  the  helpful  policy  pursued  by  the  Board. 
Their  work  as  architects  has  already  been  much  commented  on,  and 
will  have  superb  illustration  at  the  time  of  the  fair.  A  woman  was 
employed  to  model  the  caryatides  supporting  the  roof  garden,  and 
competition  has  been  invited  among  women  for  the  statuary  above 
the  roof  line,  and  the  relief  compositions  in  the  main  pediments  of 
the  building.  Several  large  surfaces  adapted  to  mural  painting  have 
been  intrusted  to  such  women  as  have  sufficient  experience  to  war¬ 
rant  their  being  entrusted  with  so  important  a  task.  They  will 
furnish  most  of  the  interior  structural  decorations. 


486 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


There  has  been  an  opportunity  given  to  those  desiring  it,  to  in¬ 
corporate  intended  exhibits  in  the  construction  of  the  building,  in  a 
manner  both  practical  and  artistic — such,  for  instance,  as  carved 
wainscoting  and  balustrades  for  the  staircases,  opened  carved  screens, 
ornamental  iron  and  brass  work,  hardware,  decorative  tapestries  and 
panels,  etc. 

The  Woman’s  Building  contains  ample  social  headquarters,  parlors, 
balconies,  and  roof  gardens;  reading,  writing,  and  committee  rooms; 
a  great  congress  hall  in  which  organizations  and  clubs  of  women 
may  meet  for  the  interchange  of  ideas  and  to  hear  addresses  by  dis¬ 
tinguished  visitors;  headquarters  for  the  press  women,  etc.  These 
with  many  other  features  of  interest  are  offered  freely  to  all  women. 

One  room  is  reserved  for  a  library  of  books  by  women,  and 
another  for  the  records  and  statistics  of  such  employments  in  which 
women  are  engaged,  as  can  not  well  be  exhibited.  There  is  also  a 
model  hospital,  with  women  physicians  and  trained  nurses  in  attend¬ 
ance,  and  adjoining  it  a  Department  of  Public  Comfort  for  the  care 
of  women  and  children  overcome  by  fatigue  or  sudden  illness.  The 
systems  of  the  various  training  schools  for  nurses  is  shown  in  the 
model  hospital,  which  will  be  conducted  by  these  training  schools, 
each  in  turn.  Lectures  will  also  be  given,  and  demonstration  of  the 
various  details  of  the  care  of  a  sick  room,  etc. 

The  Kindergarten  room  is  assigned  to  the  various  associations 
which  may  desire  to  show  their  work,  the  time  being  divided  equally 
among  them. 

There  is  a  model  kitchen  with  perfect  sanitary  appliances  and 
ventilation,  all  modern  conveniences  and  labor-saving  devices.  In 
this  kitchen  demonstration  lessons  in  cooking  will  be  given  by 
various  associations.  The  bills  of  fare  will  be  put  in  the  hands  of 
scientists,  and  their  cost,  nutriment,  etc.,  thoroughly  discussed. 

For  the  benefit  of  artisans  and  designers  there  has  been  secured  a 
loan  collection  of  old  lace,  embroideries,  fans,  jewels,  silver,  etc. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


487 


THE  CHILDREN’S  BUILDING. 


THE  plan  and  scope  of  the  Children’s  Building,  which  at  its  in¬ 
ception  was  but  vaguely  outlined,  has  crystallized  into  definite 

form. 

The  Children’s  Building  is  intended  to  be,  primarily,  an  educa¬ 
tional  exhibit.  As  the  Transportation  Building  exhibits  all  the  mar¬ 
vellous  improvements  in  methods  of  transportation,  from  the 
cumbrous  cart  drawn  by  oxen,  to  the  palace  car  equipped  with  every 
luxury  and  convenience  the  genius  of  man  can  devise,  so  the  Child¬ 
ren’s  Building  aims  to  exhibit  the  most  improved  methods  adopted 
in  the  light  of  the  nineteenth  century  for  the  rearing  and  education 
of  children. 

It  is  intended  that  the  exhibition  shall  be  as  complete  as  possible, 
commencing  with  the  infant  at  its  earliest  and  most  helpless  stage. 
This  department  will  be  in  charge  of  Miss  Maria  M.  Love  of  Buffalo, 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Woman  Managers  of  New  York.  Miss 
Love  will  carry  on  a  model  creche.  A  large,  light,  and  airy  room 
will  be  devoted  to  the  creche.  In  this  will  be  demonstrated  the  most 
healthful,  comfortable,  and  rational  system  of  dressing  and  caring  for 
young  children. 

Short  lectures  will  be  given  upon  their  food,  clothing,  and  sleep¬ 
ing  arrangements,  and  in  connection  with  the  creche  will  be  an  exhi¬ 
bition  of  infants’  clothing  of  all  nations  and  times,  their  cradles  and 
other  furniture. 

As  the  child  grows  and  its  mental  faculties  develop,  the  kindergar¬ 
ten  succeeds  the  creche;  in  the  gracious  atmosphere  of  its  intelligent 
training  the  child-nature  expands  and  develops  symmetrically.  This 
department  of  child-life  will  be  demonstrated  in  the  most  complete 
manner  by  the  International  Kindergarten  Association. 

The  kindergarten  under  their  management  will  be  fitted  up  in  the 
most  attractive  manner.  All  the  latest  apparatus  necessary  to  the 
best  exposition  of  the  work  will  be  provided  by  the  Association. 
Little  children  developing  daily  their  intellectual  and  moral  faculties 
unconsciously,  by  means  of  most  fascinating  entertainments,  will  be 
an  object  lesson  of  great  practical  value  to  the  mothers  and  others 
having  the  care  of  children. 


488 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Closely  allied  to  the  kindergarten  is  the  kitchengarden.  Miss 
Emily  Huntington  of  New  York,  the  founder  of  this  system  of  .edu¬ 
cation  will  conduct  a  kitchengarden,  where  classes  of  little  folks  will 
be  taught  the  useful  arts  of  homekeeping — in  so  interesting  and  de¬ 
lightful  a  manner  will  sweeping,  dusting,  bedmaking  and  cooking  be 
taught,  that  what  might  otherwise  be  an  irksome  task  to  children  be¬ 
comes  a  most  delightful  recreation. 

For  older  children  there  will  be  a  slojd,  supported  by  Mrs.  Quincy 
Shaw,  and  conducted  by  Miss  Pingree,  both  well-known  workers 
in  the  charities  of  Boston.  Here  will  be  an  exhibit  of  wood¬ 
carving. 

Physical  development  will  be  ably  illustrated  by  Charles  Bary, 
President  World’s  Fair  Commission  North  American  Turner-Bund. 
His  interesting  classes  will  inspire  many  a  lad  to  seek  after  that 
physical  perfection  that  was  the  pride  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

Mrs.  Clara  Doty  Bates,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  literature 
for  children,  of  the  Congress  Auxiliary,  has  charge  of  the  library, 
and  will  fit  it  up  tastefully,  providing  a  full  supply  of  children’s 
literature.  A  large  number  of  portraits  of  the  most  eminent  authors 
of  children’s  books  will  adorn  the  walls.  Here  will  be  found  the 
books  of  all  lands,  and  in  all  languages,  their  newspapers,  period¬ 
icals,  etc. 

A  request  sent  out  by  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  to  foreign 
countries,  asking  contributions  of  children’s  literature,  met  with  a 
prompt  response. 

Pennsylvania  will  equip  and  maintain  a  department  in  the  Chil¬ 
dren’s  Building  showing  the  wonderful  progress  that  has  been 
made  in  teaching  very  young  deaf  mutes  to  speak.  Miss  Mary 
Garret,  secretary  of  the  Home  for  Teaching  Deaf  Mutes  to  Speak, 
will  be  in  charge  of  this  department.  Daily  demonstrations  will  be 
given. 

There  will  be  conducted  a  department  of  Public  Comfort  in 
connection  with  the  Children’s  Building,  intended  especially  for  the 
benefit  of  children.  Infants  and  small  children  will  be  received, 
and  placed  in  the  care  of  competent  nurses,  who  will  provide  for 
all  their  wants  while  their  mothers  are  visiting  the  various  depart¬ 
ments  of  the  Exposition. 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


489 


For  the  amusement  of  visiting  children  there  will  be  a  large  play¬ 
ground  on  the  roof;  this  will  be  inclosed  with  a  strong  wire  netting, 
so  the  children  will  be  perfectly  safe.  The  playground  will  be  very 
attractive,  ornamented  with  vines  and  flowers.  Within  the  inclosure 
butterflies  and  birds  will  flit  about  unconfined.  Here,  under  cover, 
will  be  exhibited  toys  of  all  nations,  from  the  rude  playthings  of 
Esquimaux  children  to  the  wonderful  toys  which  at  once  instruct  and 
amuse.  These  toys  will  be  used  to  entertain  the  children.  This 
department  will  be  maintained  by  the  Illinois  Woman’s  Exposition 
Board. 

The  building  will  have  an  assembly-room,  containing  rows  of 
little  chairs,  and  a  platform  from  which  stereopticon  lectures  will 
be  given  to  the  older  boys  and  girls,  about  foreign  countries,  their 
languages,  manners  and  customs,  and  important  facts  connected 
with  their  history.  These  talks  will  be  given  by  kindergarteners,  who 
will  then  take  the  groups  of  children  to  see  the  exhibits  from  the 
countries  about  which  they  have  just  heard.  Mr.  T.  H.  McAllister 
of  New-  York  has  generously  donated  the  use  of  the  most  approved 
stereopticon  for  this  purpose,  and  the  services  of  an  operator  of  the 
same  for  the  entire  Exposition.  This  audience-room  will  also  be 
available  for  musical,  dramatic  and  literary  entertainments,  which 
will  be  carefully  planned  to  suit  the  intelligence  of  children  of  vary- 


mg  ages 


EXHIBITS  BY  WOMEN. 


!HE  Centennial  Exposition  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  Cotton  Cen- 


1  tennial  in  New  Orleans,  were  greatly  aided  by  the  participation 
of  able  committees  of  women,  which  created  what  they  termed  the 
“Woman’s  Department,’’  wherein  was  installed  a  collective  exhibit 
of  all  the  interesting  and  meritorious  work  by  women  that  could  be 
brought  together.  This  Woman’s  Department  proved  so  useful  and 
attractive  that  the  co-operation  of  women  in  exposition  work  was 
recognized  as  a  valuable  addition,  and  in  consequence,  the  original 
Act  of  Congress  providing  for  the  celebration  of  the  quadro-centen- 
nial,  created  an  official  organization  known  as  “The  Board  of 


490 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


Lady  Managers.”  When  this  Board  first  assembled  to  organize 
its  work  for  the  Columbian  Exposition,  it  was  found  that,  though  the 
previous  work  had  been  most  effective,  the  impelling  law  of  progress 
demanded  a  different  plan  of  action  for  the  coming  Exposition.  Es¬ 
tablished  precedent  had  to  be  thrown  aside  and  new  methods  of  use¬ 
fulness  created.  This  proved  to  be  necessary  because  of  the  strong 
sentiment  among  those  most  interested,  against  taking  the  exhibits  of 
women  from  the  general  buildings  and  placing  them  apart  in  a 
“  Woman’s  Department.”  Women  who  were  doing  the  most  cred¬ 
itable  work  in  the  arts  and  industries  strenuously  opposed  such  a 
separation,  and  insisted  that  their  exhibits  should  be  so  placed  as  to 
compete  with  the  best  and  most  successful  productions  in  all  depart¬ 
ments  of  classified  exhibits  without  regard  to  sex  distinction.  As  in 
some  classes  of  work  women  are  not  credited  with  having  arrived  at 
a  degree  of  excellence  equal  to  that  of  men,  a  competition  among 
women  only  would  result  in  the  award  of  premiums  to  articles  which 
would  not  necessarily  have  been  successful  if  entered  in  a  general 
competition.  In  an  international  competitive  exhibition,  the  object 
is  to  honor  the  highest  grade  of  work  only,  and  thereby  give  it  an 
international  reputation,  and  added  commercial  value.  This  inten¬ 
tion  might,  therefore,  be  entirely  defeated,  in  case  of  a  competition 
restricted  to  women  only. 

It  was  thus  found  that  not  only  would  the  best  of  women’s  work 
be  withheld  from  a  “  Woman’s  Department,”  but  the  loss  in  amount 
w'ould  be  equally  disastrous.  A  moment’s  consideration  of  the  facts 
shows  that  a  vast  proportion  of  the  labor  of  the  world  is  performed 
by  men  and  women  in  conjunction,  whose  work  is  consequently  in- 
distinguishably  blended  in  the  finished  product.  We  could  not,  if 
we  would,  separate  the  warp  from  the  woof  of  the  fabric  over  which 
men  and  women  have  toiled  side  by  side.  To  exhibit  what  women 
accomplish  alone  would  result  in  so  meager  and  unjust  a  representa¬ 
tion  of  their  usefulness  as  to  do  them  great  discredit.  The  first  im¬ 
portant  decision,  therefore,  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  was 
against  having  a  ‘‘Woman’s  Department”  to  contain  a  separate 
exhibit  of  the  work  of  women. 

This  Board,  having  been  created  by  the  general  Government,  and 
given  by  Congress,  the  National  Commission,  and  the  Directory, 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


491 


unusual  powers  and  duties,  felt  impelled,  because  of  these  enlarged 
opportunities,  to  undertake  a  plan  of  work  correspondingly  broad. 
By  the  various  enactments  of  these  bodies,  the  lady  managers  were 
made  co-ordinate  officers  with  the  Commission  in  every  department 
of  the  Exposition.  To  the  Board,  all  applications  by  women  are 
made  for  space  for  exhibits,  buildings,  etc.  They  were  given  the  ap¬ 
pointment  of  members  of  the  Jury  of  Awards,  and,  in  general,  entire 
charge  of  the  interests  of  women  in  connection  with  the  Exposition, 
as  well  as  the  absolute  control  of  the  Woman’s  Building. 

It  was  decided,  in  view  of  the  powers  conferred  upon  it,  that  the 
main  functions  of  the  Board  should  be 

First.  To  secure  after  careful  investigation,  and  by  solicitation 
when  necessary,  the  adequate  and  complete  presentation  in  the  gen¬ 
eral  Exposition  buildings  of  all  the  creditable  work  being  done  by 
women  in  every  line  of  industrial,  scientific,  and  artistic  work. 

Second.  To  secure  statistics  and  all  interesting  data  connected 
with  their  exhibition  in  the  various  departments,  to  the  end  that  a 
comprehensive  idea  may  be  given  of  the  large  proportion  of  the 
heavy  work  of  the  world,  which  is  being  performed  by  the  weaker 
sex,  together  with  an  approximate  idea  of  its  variety,  excellence,  and 
commercial  value. 

Third.  To  interest  itself  in  all  applications  from  women  and  from 
manufacturers  representing  women’s  work,  and  to  see  that  they  are 
accepted,  whenever  possible. 

Fourth.  To  see  that  women’s  exhibits  are  assigned  satisfactory 
locations  in  the  different  departments. 

Fifth.  To  appoint  the  proportion  of  jurors  to  which  the  Board  is 
entitled  in  every  department  in  which  women  are  contributors,  in 
order  that  an  intelligent  and  discriminating  jury  service  may  be  se¬ 
cured. 

Sixth.  To  forward  in  every  way  possible  the  interests  of  women 
in  the  Exposition. 

One  of  the  cherished  ideals  of  the  Board  is  to  remove  the  present 
erroneous  and  injurious  impression  that  women  are  doing  little 
skilled  labor,  or  little  steady  and  valuable  work,  and  that  they  con¬ 
sequently  are  not  to  be  taken  serously  into  consideration  when  deal¬ 
ing  with  industrial  problems;  that  they  never  learn  to  do  anything 


492 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


thoroughly  well,  and  that  therefore  the  small  compensation  given 
them  is  a  just  and  proper  equivalent  for  their  services,  because  it  has 
no  abstract  commercial  value.  An  effort  will  be  made  to  demon¬ 
strate  that  their  labor  is  a  fixed  and  permanent  element  and  an  im¬ 
portant  factor  in  the  industrial  world,  and  must  be  carefully  studied 
in  its  relations  to  the  general  whole.  Upon  a  strong  presentation  of 
the  facts,  it  is  hoped  that  a  healthy  public  sentiment  may  be  created 
which  will  condemn  the  disproportionate  wages  paid  men  and  women 
for  equal  services.  The  Board  particularly  wishes  to  call  attention  to 
the  necessity  of  providing  technical  training  to  fit  women  to  occupy 
superior  positions,  and  to  elevate  them  above  the  plane  of  drudgery 
which  they  still  occupy  in  many  industries.  Special  interest  will  be 
felt  in  all  technical  schools  in  which  designing,  pattern-making,  and 
applied  art  are  taught,  as  well  as  those  which  look  to  better  and 
more  economical  methods  in  housekeeping,  cooking,  sanitation,  and 
all  that  tends  to  increase  the  comfort  and  attractiveness  of  even  the 
simplest  homes. 

In  order  that  the  range  of  exhibits  may  be  as  varied,  interesting, 
and  significant  as  desired,  it  was  essential  that  all  women  and  asso¬ 
ciations  of  women  should  actively  cooperate  with  and  assist  the 
Board,  and  they  have  been  cordially  invited  to  do  so.  Women  en- 
eaeed  in  unusual  and  interesting  lines  of  work  have  been  induced  to 
exhibit,  and  manufacturers  employing  large  numbers  of  women  have 
been  urged  to  send  a  special  exhibit  which  will  show  at  their  best, 
the  women  employed  by  them. 

Foreign  committees  cooperating  with  the  Board  have  sent  to  their 
Royal  Commissions  (accompanied  by  strong  indorsements)  such  ap¬ 
plications  from  women  as  they  wish  to  have  included  in  the  general 
exhibit.  This  includes  a  representation  of  all  the  creditable  work 
done  in  every  line  by  the  women  of  their  country.  The  Board  of 
Lady  Managers  feels  that  it  will  accomplish  its  most  useful  work  for 
all  women  by  preparing  such  a  fine  exhibit  for  the  general  buildings 
as  will  show  the  amount  and  value  of  the  work  of  women  in  the 
various  industries. 

What,  then,  may  be  asked,  is  the  use  of  the  Woman's  Building, 
since  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  has  such  powers  and  responsi¬ 
bilities  in  the  main  Exposition  buildings,  in  which  a  complete  exhibit 
of  all  work  done  by  women  is  to  be  placed  ? 


WHAT  AMERICA  OWES  TO  WOMAN. 


493 


Having  been  given  this  beautiful  building,  the  Board  resolved  that 
it  should  be  used  to  emphasize  the  great  and  hitherto  unacknowl¬ 
edged  services  rendered  by  women  to  the  arts,  sciences,  and  indus¬ 
tries  of  the  world  during  past  centuries  as  well  as  the  present. 

It  is  the  intention  to  make  in  the  Woman’s  Building  an  exhibit 
which  will  clear  away  existing  misconceptions  as  to  the  originality 
and  inventiveness  of  women,  and  to  demonstrate  that  while  they  have 
been  largely  occupied  as  home-makers  and  not  trained  or  educated 
for  industrial  or  artistic  pursuits,  yet  the  adaptability  and  talent  of 
many  have  been  so  pronounced  as  to  enable  them  to  surmount  the 
artificial  barriers  and  limitations  which  have  hemmed  them  in.  Their 
achievements  in  many  departments  have  been  so  marked  as  to  have 
influenced  their  own  and  succeeding  eras.  The  footsteps  of  women 
are  traced  from  prehistoric  times  to  the  present,  and  their  intimate 
connection  shown  with  all  that  has  tended  to  promote  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  race,  even  though  they  have  worked  under  the  most 
disadvantageous  conditions.  It  is  here  shown  that  women,  among 
all  the  primitive  peoples,  were  the  originators  of  most  of  the  industrial 
arts,  and  that  it  was  not  until  these  became  lucrative  that  they  were 
appropriated  by  men,  and  women  pushed  aside.  While  man,  the 
protector,  was  engaged  in  fighting,  or  the  chase,  woman  constructed 
the  rude  semblance  of  a  home.  She  dressed  and  cooked  the  game, 
and  later,  ground  the  grain  between  the  stones  and  prepared  it  for 
bread.  She  cured  and  dressed  the  skins  of  animals,  and  fashioned 
them  awkwardly  into  garments.  Impelled  by  the  necessity  for  its 
use,  she  invented  the  needle,  and  twisted  the  fibres  of  plants  into 
thread,  She  invented  the  shuttle,  and  used  it  in  weaving  textile 
fabrics,  in  which  were  often  mingled  feathers,  wool  and  down,  which 
contributed  both  to  the  beauty  and  warmth  of  the  fabric.  She  was 
the  first  potter,  and  moulded  clay  into  jars  and  other  utensils  for 
domestic  purposes,  drying  them  in  the  sun.  She  originated  basket¬ 
making,  and  invented  such  an  infinite  variety  of  beautiful  forms  and 
decorations  as  to  put  to  shame  modern  products.  She  learned  to 
ornament  these  articles  of  primitive  construction  by  weaving  in 
feathers  of  birds,  by  a  very  skilful  embroidery  of  porcupine  quills  and 
vegetable  fibres,  and  by  the  use  of  vegetable  dyes.  Especial  atten¬ 
tion  will  be  called  to  these  early  inventions  of  women  by  means  of  an 


494 


THE  NATIONAL  EXPOSITION  SOUVENIR. 


ethnological  display  in  the  Woman’s  Building,  which  will  supplement 
the  race  exhibit  made  in  the  Department  of  Ethnology. 

The  influence,  during  classic  and  mediaeval  times,  of  the  noted 
poets,  philosophers,  artists  and  musicians  of  our  sex,  such  as  Sappho 
and  Hypatia,  will  be  illustrated  by  their  portraits,  and  by  what 
remains  to  us  of  their  illuminated  manuscripts,  miniatures,  music, 
books  of  poetry,  romance  and  history,  etc. ;  textile  fabrics,  elaborate 
embroideries,  drawn  work,  rare  tapestries  and  the  various  rare  laces 
that  have  been  produced  in  almost  every  country  and  era.  An  effort 
has  been  made  to  procure  the  originals  or  reproductions  of  the  various 
objects  which  have  had  an  influence  on  the  time?  in  which  they 
were  produced.  For  instance,  the  old  Bayeux  tapestry,  made  by 
Matilda  of  Flanders  and  her  maidens,  which  is  the  best  and  most 
authentic  history  of  the  conquest  of  England  by  her  husband,  William 
the  Conqueror,  and  is  constantly  referred  to  by  every  authority  treat¬ 
ing  of  the  military  science,  arms,  accoutrements,  costumes  and  the 
manners  and  customs  of  that  day.  An  effort  has  been  made  also  to 
procure  reproductions  of  the  statues  made  for  the  Strasburg  Cathedral 
by  Sabina  von  Steinbach,  daughter  and  assistant  of  the  architect  of 
the  cathedral.  To  her  is  ascribed  the  change  from  the  stiff  mediaeval 
angles  which  then  prevailed,  to  the  graceful,  flowing  lines  that  fol¬ 
lowed;  also,  of  the  remarkable  book  prepared  in  the  twelfth  century 
by  the  Abbess  Herrad,  which  contained  a  compendium  of  all  the 
knowledge  of  that  day,  and  was  illustrated  by  illuminations,  and 
which  was  undoubtedly  the  origin  of  the  modern  encyclopaedia.  The 
reproductions  of  the  models  in  wax  of  the  human  anatomy,  made  by 
a  young  female  student  in  the  fifteenth  century,  which  are  contained 
in  the  Bologna  Museum,  and  the  records  of  the  women  who  were 
professors  in  the  Italian  universities  in  the  fifteenth  century,  together 
with  innumerable  similar  notable  objects  from  different  countries,  will 
prove  of  great  interest.  The  Board  has  endeavored  to  secure  illus¬ 
trations  of  all  such  objects  through  its  home  and  foreign  committees, 
and  valuable  material  has  been  brought  to  light,  showing  unusual  and 
interesting  work  done  by  women  in  many  unexpected  fields. 


INDEX. 


A 

Abell,  Edith,  410. 

Abel,  Mary  Hinman,  117. 
Abemethy,  Mrs.  Charles,  362. 
Adams,  Abagail,  52,  65,  66,  67,  68. 

69,  7o,  71.  74,  107,  137,  142. 
Abbott,  Emma,  410. 

Adams,  Miss  Abagail,  66,  67,  68,  69, 

70,  223. 

Adams,  John,  65,  66,  68,  69,  71. 
Adams,  John  Quincy,  67,  68,  69,  71, 
79- 

Adams,  Mrs.  John  Quincy,  78,  79. 
Adams,  Mrs.  S.  W.,  330. 

Address  at  the  Dedicatory  Cere¬ 
monies,  473-477- 
Agnew,  Mrs.,  286. 

Albani,  Emma,  458. 

Alcott,  Louisa  M.,  109,  189,  200. 
Alden,  Miss,  170. 

Alden,  Mrs.  G.  R.,  (Pansy),  327. 
Allen,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Akers,  189. 
Alexander,  Dr.  H.  C.  B.,  484. 
Alliance,  French,  22,  23,  27. 
American  Aristocracy,  129,  131,  247. 
American  Girl  Past  and  Present, 

154-172. 

American  Girl  of  ’93,  158, 159, 160. 
American  Revolution,  18,  29,  38,  60, 
67,  74.  139.  144,  382,  384- 
American  Society,  129,  130. 
American  Women  of  the  Drama, 
381,  409-415- 
Ames,  Miss  Julia,  209. 

Anderson,  Mary,  410,  412,  414. 
Angell,  Dr.  Annie,  387. 

Anthony,  Susan  B.,  146,  208. 

Arc,  Joan  of,  149,  161. 

Astor,  Mrs.  J.  J.,  464. 

A  Summing  Up,  15,  16. 

Asylums,  328,  360,  363. 

Austin,  Mrs.  Jane  G.,  18,  36,  42, 
201. 

Autobiographical  Sketch,  58,  59. 
Avery,  Mrs.  Elroy  M.,  18,  50. 


B 

Bache,  Mrs.,  53. 

Baltimore  City,  134. 

Ball,  Elizabeth  H.,  311. 

Barkaloo,  Lemma,  403. 

Barnes  Mrs.  Frances  J.,  282,  354. 
Baptists.,  326,  330,  331. 

Barr,  Mrs.  Amelia  E.,  116,  183  201. 
Barrett,  Mrs.,  51. 

Barry,  Flora,  410. 

Barry,  Mrs.  L.  M.,  440. 

Barton,  Clara,  353 
Bates,  Charlotte  Fisk,  191. 

Bates,  Mrs.  Cyrus  S.,  331. 

Bates,  Clara  Doty,  488. 

Baylor,  Frances  Courtney,  202. 
Becker,  Mrs.,  419. 

Becker,  Dora  V.,  458. 

Bedell,  Dr.  Lelia  G.,  311. 

Beecher,  Catherine,  47,  226. 

Beecher,  Plenry  Ward,  109,  184. 
Beecher,  Mrs.  Uenry  Ward,  104,  123, 
182,  184. 

Beecher,  Roxana  Foote,  109. 
Beekman,  Mrs.,  155 
Bellows,  Dr.,  292. 

Bettisia,  Gozzadini,  391. 

Bernhardt,  Mme., 410, 41 2, 413, 414, 41 5. 
Benedict,  Mrs.  F.  E.,  343. 

Bennison,  Cora  A.,  L.  L.  B.,  405. 
Bible,  20,  48. 

Bigelow,  Miss  Annie,  162. 
Bittenbender,  Mrs.  Ada  M.,  381,  390. 
Blackwell,  Alice  Stone,  183. 
Blackwell,  Elizabeth,  383,  384,  386. 
Blackwell,  Emily,  383,  385,  386. 
Blatchford,  Mrs.  E.  W-,  483. 
Blessington,  Lady,  129. 

Blow,  Miss.,  229. 

Boadicea,  149. 

Boardman,  Mrs.  George  Dana,  297, 
Board  of  Lady  Managers,  Columbian 
Exposition.  Preface,  165,  473, 
474,  477,  480,  481,  485,  487,  488, 
489,  490,  491,  492,  494. 


496 


INDEX 


Bonheur,  Rosa,  461. 

Bonney,  Mary  L.,  296,  297,  302. 
Booth,  Agnes,  409,  411,  412,  414,  415. 
Booth,  Mary  L.,  207. 

Boston,  40,  44,  66,  67,  79,  100,  134. 

162,  205,  206,  210,  288,  290,  291. 
Botta,  Mrs.  Anna  L.,  188. 

Bottome,  Mrs.  F.,  342. 

Bracken,  Miss  Julia,  163. 

Bradford,  Alice,  37. 

Bradford,  Mrs.  William,  45. 

Bradley,  Mrs.  Mary  E.,  191. 
Bradwell,  Myra,  394,  395,  405,  406, 

483- 

Bradwell-Helmer,  Bessie,  L.  L.  B., 

405. 

Brainard,  Mrs.  H.  C.,  4S3. 

Brayton,  Dr.  Sarah  H.,  484. 

Bratton,  Mrs.,  53. 

Brent,  Margaret,  393,  394. 

Brewster,  Anna,  207. 

Brookfield,  Caroline  H.,  339 
Brooks,  Dr.  Phillips,  192. 

Brooks,  Maria,  188. 

Brown,  Charlott  Emerson,  308,  310, 
311- 

Brown,  Mrs.,  51. 

Brown,  Mrs.  John  Crosby,  465. 
Brown,  Mrs.  William  Thayer,  31 1. 
Brown,  Rev.  Olympia,  171. 

Bruce,  Miss  C.  W.,  279. 

Brush,  Mary,  419. 

Bryn  Mawr  College,  165,  169. 
Bunker  Hill,  52,  67,  158. 

Burgess,  Ida  J.,  163. 

Burlingame,  Lettie  L.,  404. 

Burns,  Hannah,  51. 

Burnett,  Mrs.  Frances  Hodgson,  200. 
Burnham,  Clara  Louise,  204. 
Bushnell,  Miss,  191. 

Butterick,  Miss  Annie.  365. 

Byrd  Miss,  273. 

C 

Calhoun,  Miss,  165. 

Canby,  Mrs.,  126,  127. 

Cadwise,  Mrs.  David,  362,  363. 
Carse,  Mrs.  Matilda  B.,  209,  285. 

352,  354,  426-430. 

Cary,  Alice,  no,  188,  196. 

Cary,  Anna  Louise,  410,  458. 

Cary,  Phoebe,  in,  188,  196. 
Carpenter,  Nettie,  458. 

Carpenter,  Mrs.  G.  B.,  4S4. 


Carter,  Mrs.  Susan  N.,  455. 

Casseday,  Miss  Jennie,  168. 

Castile,  18,  19,  20,  21,  22,  28,  30,  31, 
34,  35- 

Catherwood,  Mrs.  M.  H.,  201. 
Cayvan,  Georgia,  410,  412,  413. 
Chanler,  Amelia  Rives,  161,  190,  204. 
Chapin,  Augusta  J.,  484. 

Charities,  172. 

Chautauqua,  Circle,  216. 

Chase,  Mrs.  M.  J.,  297. 

Cheney,  Mrs.  Edna  D.,  312,  359. 
Chetlain,  Mrs.  A.  L.,  4S4. 

Chicago,  135,  163,  164,  210,  291. 
Chicago  University,  169,  216,  283,  372 
Childs,  Mrs.  G.  W.,  466. 

Children’s  Building,  487,  488,  489. 
Child,  Mrs.  Lydia  Maria,  196,  205, 
206. 

Cincinnati,  291. 

Civil  War,  59,  31S,  369. 

Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  166, 
167,  2S4,  287,  339,  340,  341. 
Christian  Scientists,  335. 

Clark,  Mrs.  Frances  E.,  339. 

Clark,  Mrs.  Kate  Upson,  183. 

Clark,  Mrs.  G.  W.,  422. 

Clarke,  Annie,  410. 

Clergymen’s  Wives,  104,  123,  124. 
Cleveland,  Mrs.  Grover,  72,  100,  101, 
145- 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  97,  211,  335. 
Coghlan,  Rose,  410,  412. 

Colby,  Mrs.,  208. 

Coles,  Miriam,  19S. 

College  Settlements,  165. 

Columbia’s  Banner  Ode,  473,  474. 
Columbus  at  Santa  F6,  30-35. 
Columbus,  19,  21,  22,  30,  32,  34,  473, 
478,  479- 

Comper,  Mrs.,  229. 

Cone,  Helen  Grey,  190. 

Congress,  66,  69,  85,  96,  369. 
Congregationalists,  326,  332. 
Continental  Army,  55. 

Continental  Money,  69. 

Converse,  Mrs.  Margaret  M.,  191 
Conway,  Miss,  229. 

Cooke,  Rose  Terry,  47,  189,  200. 
Coonly,  Mrs.  J.  C.,  484. 

Coolidge,  Susan,  19 1,  200. 

Coolbirth,  Ina  D  ,  191. 

Cooper.  Florence,  458. 

Cope,  Mrs.  Edward,  297. 

Corday,  Charlotte,  491. 


INDEX. 


497 


Coulter,  Mrs.  C.  E.,  329. 

Couzins,  Phoebe  W.,  399,  402,  403. 
Cowles,  Mrs.  J.  G.  W.,  332. 
Craddock,  Charles  Egbert,  (Miss 
Murfree),  202. 

Craper,  Margaret,  205. 

Crittenden,  Mrs.,  143. 

Croly,  Mrs.  J.  C.  (Jennie  June),  182, 
206,  209,  216,  282,  286,  305,  307, 
308,  310. 

Cruger,  Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer,  202. 
Cunningham,  Miss  Pamela,  65. 

Curry,  Miss  V.,  164. 

Cushman,  Charlotte,  410,  41 1. 

Custer,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  B.,  182. 
Custis,  Miss  Nellie,  158. 

D 

Dangshore,  Mrs.  Hannah,  384. 
Danridge,  Danske,  190. 

Darrah,  Lydia,  53. 

Daughters,  Revolution,  100,  146. 
Davenport,  Fanny,  410,  412. 

Davis,  Mrs.  John,  94. 

Davis,  Jessie  Bartlett,  458. 

Davis,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Harding,  199. 
Davis,  Paulina  Wright,  206. 

Dean,  Julia,  410. 

Deane,  Mrs.  E.  S.,  187. 

Deborah,  390. 

Deland,  Mrs.  Margaret,  190,  203. 
Dexter,  Mrs.  Wirt,  484. 

DeVere,  Miss,  19 1. 

Dickinson,  Anna,  161,  208. 
Dickinson,  Mrs.  Charles  A.,  339. 
Dickinson,  Mrs.  Mary  Lowe,  302. 
Dickinson,  Susan  E.,  183,  186,  205. 
Dietz,  Ella  (Clymer),  191,  308,  309, 
310. 

Disciples  (Church),  326,  333. 

Dix,  Dorothea  Lynde,  109,  282,  290, 
292,  367,  368,  369- 

Dodge,  Miss  Grace  H.,165,  282,  344. 
Dodge,  Mary  Mapes,  182,  190,  200. 
Dodge,  Miss  Louise,  201. 

Doggett,  Mrs.  Kate  Newell,  370,  371, 
372. 

Doll,  Caroline  H.,  206. 

Dolley,Dr.  Sarah  Adamson,  383,  384. 
Domestic  Science  in  American 
Homes,  112-122. 

Domestic  Science  Clubs,  118. 

Dona  Felipa,  20. 

Doremus,  Miss  Estelle,  162. 


Doremus,  Mrs.  Thomas  C.,  282,  335, 

339.  362. 

Dorr,  Mrs.  Julia  C.  R.,  191. 

Dorsett,  Martha  A.,  L.  L.  B.,  396. 

Douglas,  Amanda  M.,  204. 

Draper,  Mrs.  Anna  Palmer,  51,  273, 
274,  275,  279- 

Drexel,  Mrs.  A.  J.,  466. 

Drexel,  Miss,  162. 

Dubois,  Sarah,  282,  339. 

Dunlap,  Mrs.  George  L.,  484. 

Durant,  Mrs.,  246. 

Duse,  Mme,  Eleanora,  411,  414. 

Dutton,  Miss  Jennie,  162. 

E 

Eames,  Emma,  410. 

Eastman,  Mary  F.,  218. 

Eaton,  Mrs.,  140,  141. 

Edholm,  Mrs.  E.  G.  C.,  211. 

Editors,  Women,  182. 

Editorial,  18,  60,  61,  62,  65,  71,  76,  78, 
80,  84,  85,  87,  90,  96,  99,  100, 
104,  129,  154,  181,  182,  183,  184, 
185,  186,  187,  188,  189,  190,  191, 
192,  193,  215,  216,  217,  218,  219, 
220,  221,  282,  326,  327,  328,  329, 
330,  33L  332,  333.  334,  335,  336, 
337,  338,  339,  340,  34L  342,  343, 
35L  352,  353,  354,  359,  360,  361, 
362,  363,  364,  365,  366,  367,  381, 
416,  417,  4x8,  419,  420,  421,  422, 
423,  424,  425,  426,  427,  428,  429, 
430,  43L  432,  433,  434,  455,  456, 
457,  458,  459,  473- 

Education,  American  Girls,  168,  169, 
215- 

Education,  Bureau  of,  169,  359,  363. 

Education,  Women  in,  168,  215,  216, 
217,  218,  222,  280. 

Eleanor,  Queen  of  Henry  III,  390. 

Ellet,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  F.,  206. 

Eliot,  George,  199,  377. 

Elliott,  Maud  Howe,  204. 

Ellis,  Mrs.  A.  M.  H.,  470. 

Ellsler,  Effie,  410,  414. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  36,  113. 

Emerson,  Mrs.,  no. 

Emmons,  Mrs.  R.  A.,  354. 

Episcopalians,  326,  331,  332. 

Evans,  Miss  Augusta,  198. 

Every-day  Women,  104,  173,  174, 
175- 

Exhibits  by  Women,  489,  494. 


498 


INDEX. 


Exposition  Columbian,  36,  161,  163, 
2ii,  286,  356,  406,  471,  473,  474, 
494- 

Exposition  Souvenir,  40,  76,  90,  186, 
282. 


F 


Factory  Girls,  164. 

Farmer,  Lydia  Hoyt,  19,  58,  204. 
Farvvell,  Mrs.  John  V.,  341. 

Faulds,  Mrs.  Mary  Bolling,  423,  424 

425- 

Felton,  Miss  Mary,  365,  410. 

Field,  Miss  Kate,  183,  410. 

Field,  Submit  Dickinson,  107,  108. 
Fields,  Mrs.,  19 1. 

Fields,  Mrs.  James  T.,  365. 

Fillmore,  Mrs.  Millard,  84,  85. 

Fish,  Mrs.,  144. 

Fisher,  Clara,  410. 

Fiske,  Mary  Burnham,  207. 

Fisk,  Miss  Catherine,  226. 

Fisk,  Mrs.  Franklin  W.,  4S4. 
Fleming,  Mrs.  Mina,  272,  275,  276, 
277,  279,  280. 

Fletcher,  Miss  Alice  C.,  300. 
Fletcher,  Julia,  201. 

Fletcher,  Miss  Mary,  359. 

Flower  Missions,  167,  16S,  355,  357. 
Flower,  Mrs.  James  M.,  311,484. 
Foote,  Mary  Hallock,  204,  456. 
Foster,  Hannah  Webster,  195. 
Foster,  Mrs.  J.  Ellen,  2S2,  318. 
Franklin,  Gertrude,  410. 

Franko,  Jeanne,  458. 

Freedom,  15,  21,  22,  23,  24,  29,  44, 


54,  57- 

Fremont,  Mrs.  Jessie  Benton,  104, 
125,  1S2. 

Friends,  326. 

Fuller  Margaret,  161,  197,  206,  207. 


G 

Gail  Hamilton,  ( Miss  Mary  A. 

Dodge,  161,  183,  200,  206,  221. 
Gage,  Frances  D.,  206. 

Gale,  Mina,  410. 

Garfield,  James  Abram,  96,  97,  98, 
106. 

Garfield,  Lucretia  Rudolph,  96,  97, 
9S. 

Garrett,  Miss  Mary  E.,  256,  360,  386. 
Garret.  Miss  Mary  4S8. 


Gary,  Emma  R.,  170. 

Gibbes,  Mary,  155. 

Gibson,  Miss  Marion  Isabel,  356. 
Gilder,  Jeannette,  L.,  183. 

Gilmore,  Miss  Minnie,  161. 

Gleason,  Mrs.,  3S3,  384. 

Glyndon,  Howard,  191. 

Golden  Rule,  19,  90,  93,  95,  318. 
Goodale,  Elaine  and  Dora,  160,  161, 
190. 

Goodell  Lavinia,  396,  403,  404. 

Gosse,  Elizabeth  Merritt,  211. 

Grace  Greenwood,  (Mrs.  Lippincott, 
189,  206. 

Grand  Military  Ball,  157. 

Grant,  General  U.  S.,  5S,  59,  8S,  89, 
90- 

Grant,  Mrs.  Ulysses  S.,  iS,  5S,  59, 
87,  SS,  89,  90. 

Grant,  Zilpah  P.,  47,  226,  247-263. 
Green,  Anna  Katharine,  191. 

Green,  Mrs.  Nathaniel,  420. 

Greene,  Mary  A.,  L.  L.  B.,  392. 
Grey,  Ladyjane,  135. 

Guilford,  Miss  Linda  T.,  iS,  44. 
Guiney,  Louise  Imogen,  190. 

H 

Hale,  Edward  Everett,  131. 

Hall,  Man'  R.,  30S. 

Hall,  Marguerite,  410. 

Hall,  Mary,  397. 

Hallowell,  Mrs.  Sarah  C.  F.,  183,  483 
Halsted,  Miss  Leonora  B.,  104,  137. 
Halsted,  Miss  N.,  484. 

Hapgood,  Miss  Isabel  F.,  183. 
Harland  Marion,  (Mrs.  Terhunej,  20, 
121,  196,  19S. 

Harringon,  Nettie  E.,  340. 

Harrison,  Mrs.  Benjamin,  99,  100,  145 
Harrison,  Mrs.  Burton,  62,  202. 
Harrison,  Mrs.  William  Henry,  79. 
Harvey,  Mrs.  J.  P.,  31 1. 

Hauk,  Mme.  Minnie,  45S. 

Haus,  Kate  H.,  339. 

Harvey,  Mrs.  J.  D.,  483. 

Hawley,  Mrs.  Joseph,  298. 

Hayes,  Miss,  163. 

Hayes,  Mrs.  Ruthford  B..  90,  91,  92, 
94,  95,  144.  145- 

Haywood,  Miss  Mauae,  183,  457,  460. 
Hearst,  Mrs.  Phoebe  A.,  310. 
Helmuth,  Mrs.  Wm.  Tod,  308. 
Hemans,  Mrs.,  186,  188. 


INDEX. 


499 


Henrotin,  Mrs.  Charles,  282,  37c, 
483,  484. 

Herron,  Matilda,  410. 

Hewitt,  the  Misses,  162. 

Heywood,  Mrs.  Lucretia  M.,  311. 
Herschell,  Caroline,  271. 

Herrad,  Abbess,  494. 

Higginson,  Mrs.  Ella,  191. 

Hill,  Mrs.  James  L.,  339. 

Hill,  Miss  A.  M.,  467. 

Hoffman,  Sophia  C.,  308. 

Hoge,  Mrs.  Jane  C.,  292. 

Holland,  Lady,  129. 

Hollingshead,  Miss  Lily,  162. 
Holloway,  Laura  Carter,  83,  87. 
Holmes,  Mrs.  Oliver  Wendell,  365. 
Holton,  Tabitha  A.,  404. 

Homes,  American,  104,  112,  113,  114, 
115,  117,  121,  122. 

Home  Mission,  92,  93,  94,  284,  327, 
328,  329,  330,  331,  332,  333,  334, 

335,  336,  337,  339- 
Home,  Women  in  the,  103,  178. 
Hooper,  Miss  Lucy,  188. 

Hooker,  Miss  Jennie  E.,  104,  175. 
Hosmer,  Harriet,  163. 

Hospitals,  328,  337,  353,  355,  359, 
360,  361,  362,  384,  385. 
Housekeeping,  387,  115,  116,  117, 
118. 

Howard,  Blanche  Willis,  201. 

Howe,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward,  15,  189,  312. 
Howells,  Mr.  W.  D.,  202. 
Huddleston,  Mrs.  George  W.,  311. 
Hudson,  Mary  Clemmer,  191,  207. 
Hulett,  Alta  M.,  395,  403. 
Huntington,  Agnes,  410. 

Huntington,  Miss  Emily,  366,  488. 
Hunt,  Harriet  K.,  383. 

Hutchinson,  Miss,  191. 

Hyde,  Miss  Ellen,  234. 

Huling,  Miss  Caroline  A.,  425. 
Hurlbut,  Mrs.  H.  B.,  467. 


I 

Industrial  Schools,  284. 

Ingham  University,  169. 

Influence  of  Women  in  American 
Politics,  282,  318,  325. 

“Innsley  Owen,”  169. 

Irving,  Washington,  158. 

Isabella  of  Castile,  18,  19,  20,  21,  22, 
28,  31.  34,  36,  21 1. 


J 

Jackson,  Andrew,  140,  141. 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Andrew,  79. 

Jackson,  Helen  Hunt,  190,  201,  299. 
Jacobi,  Dr.  Mary  Putnam,  286,  381, 
382,  386,  387. 

Janauschek,  Mme.,  410,  412,  413. 
Jardine,  Mrs.  J.  B.,  422. 

Jay,  Mrs.  Sally,  107. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  71,  138. 

Jewett,  Sara,  412,  413. 

Jewett,  Sarah  Orne,  47,  203. 
Johnson,  Arbella,  18,  40,  41,  42,  43. 
Johnson,  Miss  Adelaide,  163. 
Johnson,  Mrs.  Andrew,  87. 

Johnson,  Miss  Revere,  457. 

Johnston,  Miss  Annie  E.,  229. 

John  Hopkins  University,  287,  360, 

385- 

Jones,  Mrs.  Joshua  R.,  297. 

Jordan,  Alice  R.  (Mrs.  Blake)  399 
Jordan,  Elizabeth  G.,  161,  162. 
Judson,  Emily,  188. 

K 

Kaufmann,  Angelica,  461. 

Keifer,  Mrs.,  298. 

Kellogg,  Clara  Louise,  4x0,  458. 
Kellogg,  Mrs.  J.  M.,  402. 

Kells,  Mrs.  Harriet  B.,  183. 

Kemble,  Fanny,  410. 

Kempin,  Dr.  Emile,  286,  400,  401. 
Kepley,  Ada  H.,  394,  395. 

Kester,  Mrs.  Harriet,  467. 

Keene,  Laura,  410. 

Kies,  Mary,  419. 

Kilgore,  Carrie  Burnham,  397,  398. 
Kimball,  Miss  Anna,  170. 

Kimball,  Harriet  McEwen,  191. 
Kindergartens,  218,  219,  220,  221, 
229. 

King’s  Daughters,  160,  167,  284,  327, 
342. 

Kirk,  Mrs.  Ellen  Olney,  185,  186, 
194. 

Kirkland,  Mrs.,  196. 

Kirkwood,  Miss,  366,  367. 
Kitchen-Gardens,  355. 

Kline,  Mrs.  M.  E.,  353. 

Knight  of  Liberty,  24,  28,  29,  78. 
Knowles,  Miss  Ella  L.,  170. 

Knox,  Mrs.  55,  156. 

Krout,  Mary  H.,  484. 


1 


5oo 


INDEX. 


1/ 

Ladies’  Health  Protective  Associa¬ 
tion,  286. 

Lady  Arbella,  18,  40,  41,  42,  43. 

La  Fayette,  Madame,  18,  19,  22,  25, 
28,  29,  70,  76,  77,  78,  140. 

La  Fayette,  Marquise  de,  22,  23,  24, 
25,  26,  27,  28,  29,  52,  61,  139. 
Lamb,  Mrs.  Martha  J.,  182. 

Landon,  Miss,  186. 

Lane,  Miss  (Mrs.  Johnston,)  86,  143. 
Langtry,  Mrs.,  412. 

Lanza,  The  Marquise  Clara,  162,  381, 
444. 

Larcom  Miss  Lucy,  18,  40,  161,  189, 
192,  417. 

Lathrop,  Rose  Hawthorne,  191. 
Lawrence,  Dr.  H.  F.,  484. 

Lawson,  Deborah,  38. 

Lawson,  Miss  Louise,  163. 

Lazarus,  Amelia  B.,  465. 

Lazarus,  Miss  Emma,  190,  202,  465. 
Lazarus,  Miss  Emilie,  465. 

Lea,  Miss  Frances,  297. 

Lecture  Bureau,  353. 

Ledyard,  Fannie,  54. 

Lee,  Ada,  402. 

Leland,  Miss,  169, 

Leslie,  Mrs.  Frank,  104,  147,  182, 
426,  430,  434. 

Leslie,  Miss  Eliza,  195,  196,  205. 
Lewis,  Edmonia,  163. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  61,  62,  143,  290. 
Lincoln,  Mrs.  Abraham,  86. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Martha  D.,  86,  126,  211. 
Lincoln,  Nancy  Hanks,  61,  62. 

Litta,  Marie,  458. 

Livermore,  Mrs.  Mary  A.,  161,  282, 
289,  292,  391,  392. 

Locke,  Mrs.  J.  C.,  483. 

Lockwood,  Mrs.  Belva  A.,  211,  395, 
396,398 

Logan,  Mrs.  John  A.,  182. 

Logan,  Sisters,  161. 

Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  no. 
Longstreeth,  The  Misses,  226. 
Lothrop,  Mrs.  Harriet  M.,  (Margaret 
Sidney),  183. 

Loughborough,  Miss,  163. 

Love,  Maria  M.,  487. 

Lowell,  Maria  White,  no,  188. 
Lutherans.  326. 

Lunt,  Miss  Nina  Gray,  4§4- 
Lyon,  Maryr,  47,  226,  227,  254,  258. 


M 

MacKenzie,  Miss  Ethel  Morell,  423. 
MacMurphy,  Mrs.  Harriet  S.,  183, 
422. 

Madison,  Dolly  Todd,  71,  72,  73,  74, 
75,  100,  130,  138,  140,  142,  145, 
Madison,  James,  73  75. 

Magoon,  Mrs.  Mary  E.,  394. 
Magazines,  Women  Contributors, 
181,  182. 

Mahant,  Countess  of  Artois,  391. 
Mahegin,  Miss,  164. 

Mann,  Mrs.  Horace,  220,  229. 
Mansfield,  Arabella  A.,  394. 
Marbury,  Miss  Bessie,  162. 

Marlowe,  Julia,  410,  412,  414. 

Martin,  Ellen  A.  LL.  B.,  397, 398, 404. 
Matthewson,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  423. 
Matilda  of  Flanders,  494. 

Maury',  Miss,  169,  272,  277. 

Mayo,  Rev.  A.  £).,  230,  231. 

Mears,  Miss  Nellie,  163. 

Medea,  149. 

Merington,  Miss,  161. 

Messer,  Mrs.  L.  W.,  341. 

Methodists,  326,  335. 

McAll  Mission,  97. 

McClelland,  G.  M.,  204. 

McCormick,  Mrs.  R.  H.,  484. 
McDowell,  Mrs.  Katharine,  (Sher¬ 
wood  Bonner),  201. 

McElroy,  Mrs.,  145, 

McEwen,  Mrs.  H.  T.,  339. 

McKee,  Mary  Harrison,  ico. 
McLaughlin,  Miss  Louise,  457,  469. 
Michel,  Mrs.  Nettie  Leila,  183. 

Miller,  Mrs.  Annie  Jenness,  104,  151, 
183. 

Miller,  Miss  Dora,  165. 

Miller,  Olive  Thome,  183. 
Ministering  Children’s  League,  342, 
343-  . 

Minor,  Miss  Julia,  163. 

Mission  Schools,  334. 

Mitchell,  Maria,  221,  231,  264,  270, 
271. 

Modjeska,  Mme,  409,  412,  413. 
Monroe,  Harriet  F.,  161,  191. 
Monroe,  James,  71,  76,  78. 

Monroe,  Mrs.  James,  76,  77,  78,  140. 
Montague,  Lady,  63. 

More,  Elizaheth,  165. 

Morgan,  Anne  Eugenia,  221,  240. 
Morgan,  Miss  Geraldine,  458. 


INDEX. 


501 


Morgan,  Miss,  Maud,  162. 

Morgan,  Middle,  207. 

Morris,  Clara,  410,  41 1,  412,  414,  415. 
Morton,  Mrs.,  146. 

Moody  Schools,  169. 

Moore,  Mrs.  Bloomfield,  466. 

Mott,  Mrs.,  53. 

Moulton,  Mrs.  Louise  Chandler,  190, 
200. 

Mount  Holyoke  College,  169,  226, 
287. 

Monnt  Vernon,  62,  64,  65,  158. 
Mumford,  Mrs.  Mary  E.,  3x0. 
Murray,  Dame,  231. 

N 

National  Industrial  Association,  364. 
New  England,  36,  38,  39,  47,  49,  5°, 
51,  195,  200,  201,  266,  417. 
Neilson,  Adelaide,  410,  412,  413. 
New  York  City,  54,  134,  135,  136, 
137,  164,  167,  2io,  291. 

New  Orleans,  134,  210. 

Nichols,  Mrs.  C.  I.  H.,  206. 

Nichols,  Mrs.  Maria  Longworth,  457, 
469- 

Noble,  Mrs.  John  W.,  146. 

Normal  Schools  of  Massachusetts, 
221,  232,  239. 

Normal  Schools,  227,  228,  229. 

O 

Oberlin  College,  231. 

Ormsbee,  Mrs.  Agnes  Bailey,  104, 
105. 

Osgood,  Emma,  458. 

Osgood,  Mrs.  Frances  S.,  188. 
Osgood,  Miss  Kate  Putnam,  191. 
Otis,  Col.  Harrison  Gray,  95. 

P 

Palestrello,  20. 

Palmer,  Mrs.  Fanny  P.,  310. 

Palmer,  Mrs.  Potter,  163,  211,  473, 

483,  484- 

Palmer-Denny,  Carrie,  404. 
Parrnelee,  Mrs.,  52 
Patterson,  Mrs.,  87. 

Patti,  Mme.  Adelina,  411,  458. 

Paul,  Mrs.  J.  W.,  466. 

Peck,  Mrs.  Elisha,  362. 

Peabody,  Elizabeth,  220,  229. 


Peattie,  Mrs.  Elia  W.,  422. 

Perkins,  Mrs.  E.  R.,  329. 

Perry,  Mrs.  E.  W.,  469. 

Perry,  Miss  Nora,  190,  200. 

Perry,  M.  Fredreka,  404. 

Peter,  Mrs.  Sarah,  466,  467,  468. 
Phelps,  Mrs.  Almira  Lincoln,  228. 
Philadelphia,  66,  134,  137,  139,  154, 
195,  291. 

Philanthropy,  281. 

Phillips,  Adelaide,  410. 

Phillips,  Matilde,  410. 

Physical  Culture  of  American 
Women,  104,  151,  152,  153. 

Piatt,  Mrs.  S.  M.  B.,  190. 

Pierce,  Mrs.  Franklin,  85,  86. 
Pilgrim,  37,  44,  46,  49. 

Pingree,  Miss,  488. 

Plymouth,  Colony,  36,  45. 

Polk,  Mrs.  James  K.,  83,  141,  142. 
Pool,  Maria  Louise,  204. 

Poole,  Elizabeth,  37. 

Pond,  Mrs.,  52. 

Porter,  Mrs.,  140. 

Potter,  Miss  Bessie,  163. 

Potter,  Mrs.  O.  W.,  484. 

Potter,  Mrs.,  412. 

Powell,  Miss  Maud,  458. 

Pratt,  Mrs.  Ella  Farnam,  182. 

Pr6  Lucille  M.  Du,  458. 
Presbyterians,  326,  329. 

Prescott,  Mary  N.,  191. 

Press  Associations,  210,  211. 

Preston,  Ann,  383,  384. 

Preston,  Harriet  Waters,  201. 
Preston,  Mrs.  Margaret  J.,  191. 

Price,  Miss  L.  Elizabeth,  282,  367. 

!  Proctor,  Miss  Edna  Dean,  161,  191, 
478. 

Progress  of  Woman,  282,  283,  288. 
Puritan,  44,  46,  47.  48,  49,  139- 
Puritan  Womanhood,  44,  49. 

Q. 

Queen,  An  American,  221,  247,  263. 
Queens,  American,  129. 

Queen,  Mary,  135. 

Queens  of  the  Shop,  the  Workroom, 
and  the  Tenement,  381,  435-443. 
Quinton,  Mrs.  Amelia  S.,  282,  294, 


Rachel,  Mile.,  410,  411,  412,  414. 
Randolph,  Martha  Jefferson,  72. 


502 


INDEX. 


Rastall,  Miss  Fannie  H.,  211. 

Rastall,  Mrs.  F.  H.,  284,  353. 

Ray,  Charlotte  E.,  401. 

Rawson,  Susannah,  195. 

Rdcamier,  Madame,  129. 

Reed,  Mrs.  Anna  Morrison,  162. 
Reed,  Miss  Helen  Leah,  221,  271. 
Reed,  Mrs.,  53. 

Reform  Schools,  364. 

Reignolds,  Kate,  410. 

Rehan,  Ada,  410,  412,  414. 

Repplier,  Agnes,  183. 

Rhea,  Mile.,  410,  412,  414. 

Rhine,  Alice  Hyneman,  421. 
Richards,  Mrs.  Laura  E.,  183. 
Rideout,  Miss,  163. 

Riddle,  Eliza,  410. 

Ristori,  Mme.,  4x0,  41 1,  412,  413, 
4i4, 

Robertson,  Agnes,  410. 

Robinson,  Mrs.  Harriett,  310. 
Robinson,  Lelia  J.,  397,  404,  405. 
Roby,  Dr.  Ida  H.,  484. 

Rogers,  Miss  Annette,  365. 

Rogers,  Winifred,  458. 

Rogers,  Mrs.  H.  W.,  484. 

Roland,  Madame,  129. 

Rollins,  Mrs.,  191. 

Rudolph,  Arabella  Mason,  96. 
Rutger’s  College,  216. 

Ruysch,  Rachel,  461. 

Ryder,  Dr.  Emma  Brainerd,  31 1. 

S 

Salem  Academy,  228. 

Salon,  American,  129,  130,  131,  132, 
133.  J34>  135,  136- 
Salon,  143. 

Salvation  Army,  335. 

Sanderson,  Sibyl,  410. 

Sanitary  Commission,  206,  290,  291, 
293-  . 

Sanitary  Fairs,  292. 

Sangster,  Margaret  E.,  191. 
Sedgwick,  Catherine,  47,  196,  205. 
Sewall,  Mrs.  May  Wright,  287,  310, 
312. 

Schack,  Miss  Constance,  162. 
Schreiner,  Miss  Lizzie,  165. 

Schools,  Cookery,  Industrial,  364, 
365.  366. 

Schools,  School-houses,  169. 
Scudder,  Mrs.  Alice  May,  339. 
Seymour,  Miss,  447. 

Shafer,  President  Wellesley  College, 
245- 


Shattuck,  Lilian,  458. 

Shaw,  Mrs.  Quincy  A.,  220,  488. 
Shay,  M.  B.  R.,  400,  405. 

Sheppard,  Mrs.  Margaretta,  297. 
Sherman,  Caroline  K.,  311,  484. 
Sherman,  Gen.  W.  T.,  96. 

Sherman,  Marietta  R.,  458. 
Sherwood,  Mrs.  John,  202. 

Shinn,  Miss,  191. 

Shut-In-Society,  168. 

Sickels,  Emma  C.,  484. 

Sigourney,  Lydia  H.,  188. 

Simpson,  Mrs.  Martha  Ritchie,  372, 
373,  374,  375,  376,  377. 

Sims,  Dr.  J.  Marion,  337,  361,  383. 
Slidell,  Mrs.,  143. 

Sloane,  Mrs.  William  D.,  361. 
Slocomb,  Mrs.,  54. 

Smith,  Annie,  398. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Charlotte,  208. 

Smith,  Elizabeth  Oakes,  188. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Eli  C.,  339. 

Smith  College,  165,  169,  254,  456. 
Smith  Eliza  Jane,  432. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Frances  B.,  31 1. 

Smith,  Miss  Helen  Evertson,  183, 
361,  457,  463- 

Smith,  Dr.  Julia  Holmes,  484. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Mabel,  310. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Mary  Riley,  191. 

Social  Leaders  of  Washington,  104, 
137,  147- 

Society,  American,  129.  130,  133. 
Societies  for  Physical  Culture,  284. 
Soldier’s  Aid  Societies,  291. 
Somerset,  Lady  Henry,  356. 
Somerville,  Mary,  271. 

Sorosis,  307,  308. 

Spelman,  Miss  Lucy  M.,  104,  173. 
Spofford,  Mrs.  Harriet  Prescott,  190, 
200. 

Sproat,  Mrs.  Nancy,  187. 

Standish,  Barbara,  37 
Stanton,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady,  208, 
268. 

Stedman,  Edmund  Clarence,  185, 
1S8. 

Steinbach,  Sabina  Von,  494. 

Stelle,  Mrs.  Lucy  Page,  64. 
Stenography,  Union  School,  447. 
Stephens,  Mrs.  Ann  S.,  162,  188,  198, 
206. 

Stephens,  Miss,  162. 

Sterling,  Antoinette,  458. 

“Sterne,  Stuart,’’  191. 


INDEX. 


5°3 


Stevenson,  Mrs.  Sarah  Hackett,  311, 
484. 

Stocfebridge,  Mrs.,  55. 

Stoddard,  Elizabeth,  200. 

Stoddard,  R.  H.,  186. 

Stone,  Mrs.  Leander,  484. 

Stone,  Lucy,  183,  208,  287. 

Stosch,  Leonora  Von,  458. 

Stover,  Mrs.,  87. 

Stowe,  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher,  47. 

185,  191,  197,  268. 

Stuart,  Mrs.  Robert  L.,  465. 

Sudduth,  Margaret  A.,  183. 
Sunday-schools,  169,  326,  327,  329, 
344- 

Swisshelm,  Jane  G.,  206. 

T 

Taunton,  37. 

Tayloe,  Mrs.  Ogle,  470. 

Taylor,  Miss  Betty, 

Taylor,  General  Zachary,  84. 

Taylor,  Hon.  J.  D.,  91. 

Taylor,  Mrs.  Zachary,  83,  84. 
Teachers,  women,  169,  221,  222,  231. 
Tedori,  Anitza,  458. 

Temple,  Chicago,  285,  354,  428,  429. 
Temple,  Miss  Mary  B.,  310. 

Terry,  Ellen,  412,  413. 

Thanet,  Octave,  (Miss  Alice  French) 
183,  204. 

Thaxter,  Mrs.  Celia,  189. 

Thomas,  Miss  Bertha,  162. 

Thomas,  Miss  Edith,  161,  190. 
Thomas,  Mrs.,  53. 

Thomas,  Mrs.  M.  Louise,  308. 
Thorpe,  Rose  Hartwick,  191. 
Townsend,  Mary  Ashley,  191. 
Townsend,  Virginia  F.,  18,  30. 

Toler,  Mrs.  H.  G.,  423. 

Training  Schools  for  Nurses,  353, 
360. 

Trott,  Novella  Jewell,  183. 

Troy  Seminary,  225,  227. 

Two  Women  Whom  I  Have  Known, 
370,  377- 

Tucker,  Ellen,  no. 

Turner,  Dr.  Celia  G.,  422. 

Tyler,  Mrs.  John,  80,  81,  82. 
Typewriter  Girls,  164,  448. 

U 

Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin,  184,  185,  197, 
198. 

Unitarians,  326. 


Universalists,  326. 

Upton,  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor,  64,  65, 


Van  Buren,  Martin,  141. 

Van  Buren,  Mrs.  Martin,  79. 

Varney,  Miss  Luella,  163. 

Vassar  College,  165,  169,  231,  254, 
264,  287,  456. 

Vernon,  Ida,  412,  414. 

Vincent,  Mrs.,  410. 

Vokes,  Rosina,  412,  414. 

W 

Wainwright,  Marie,  412. 

Waite,  Catherine  V.  LL.  B.,  405. 
Waldegrave,  Lady,  132. 

Walter,  Cornelia  Wells,  206. 

Walter,  Dr.  Josephine,  387. 

Ward,  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps,  47, 
190,  200. 

Ward,  Genevieve,  409,  412,  413. 
Warner,  Miss  Susan,  198. 

Warren,  Mercy  Otis,  38,  52,  189. 
Washington,  City,  59,  79,  91, 126, 127, 
133,  134,  137,  139,  !4°.  142,  144. 
146,  210,  291. 

Washington,  George,  23,  27,  28,  29, 
55,  60,  61,  62,  63,  64,  65,  72,  137, 
187.  195- 

Washington,  Martha,  56,  62,  63,  64, 

65,  137,  138,  156. 

Washington,  Mary,  55,  60,  61,  62, 
109,  1 12,  130. 

Washburn,  Mrs.,  no. 

Wellesley  College,  165,  169,  231,  240, 
246,  254,  287,  456. 

Wells  College,  169. 

Wells,  Mrs.  Kate  Gannett,  204,  221, 
232. 

West,  Mrs.  F.  T.,  341. 

West,  Mary  Allen,  183,  209. 

What  America  Owes  to  Isabella  of 
Castile  and  Madame  LaFayette, 
19-29.  ' 

Wheeler,  Mrs.,  457. 

White  House,  71,  72,  74,  78,  79,  83, 
84,  85,  91,  100,  137,  138,  139,  140, 
141,  142,  143,  144,  145,  146,  296. 
White,  Mrs.  Sallie  Joy,  211. 

Whiting,  Lilian,  119,  183,  381,  409. 
Whitney,  Mrs.  A.  D.  T.,  95,  189,  201. 
Whitney,  Miss,  273. 


504 


INDEX. 


Whittier,  John  Greenleaf,  96,  no. 
188,  191. 

Wiatt,  Hattie  May,  166. 

Wiggin,  Kate  Douglas,  204,  218. 

Wilcox,  Ella  Wheeler,  190. 

Wilcox,  Lilian  A.,  339. 

Wilkins,  Mary  E.,  47,  203,  204. 

Wilkinson,  Mrs.  John,  484. 

Willard,  Emma  Hart,  223,  224  225, 
226,  227,  228,  287. 

Willard,  Frances  E.,  95,  183,  209, 
282,  283,  351,  352,  429,  484. 

Willard,  Mrs.  Mary,  209. 

Willets,  Dr.  Mary,  386. 

Willis,  Annie  Isabel,  365. 

Wilmarth,  Mrs.  H.  M.,  483. 

Wilson,  Birdie  May,  163,  164. 

Wilstach,  Mrs.  Anna  H.,  465. 

Winlock,  Anna,  273. 

Wing,  Amelia  K.,  308,  310. 

Wishard,  Elizabeth  M.,  339. 

Wister,  Mrs.,  1S3,  201. 

Wist4r,  Sarah  Butler,  201. 

Wives  of  Army  Officers,  104,  125, 
126,  127,  128, 

Wives  and  Daughters  in  the  Home, 
104,  105-ni. 

Wives,  Farmer’s  Wives,  and  Daugh¬ 
ters,  104,  175,  176,  177,  178. 

Wives  of  the  Presidents,  60,  80,  87- 
101. 

Wolfe,  Catherine  Lorrillard,  464. 

Woolley,  Mrs.  Celia  Parker,  3x1. 

Woman’s  Club  Movement,  305-317. 

Woman’s  Cycle,  308,  309. 

Woman’s  Congress  Auxiliary,  483, 
434- 

Womanhood,  Puritan,  18,  44. 

Woman,  Southern  Woman,  Past  and 
Present,  104,  147,  148,  149,  150. 

Woman’s  Building,  4S5,  486. 

Woman  Symposium,  15,  312. 

Woman’s  Work  at  the  Harvard  Ob¬ 
servatory,  169,  271-280. 

Women,  American,  15,  16,  21,  47, 
131,  732,  136,  147,  1S1,  290,  319, 
361. 

Women — American  Revolution,  18, 
29.  5o,  57- 

Women— American  History,  17-103. 

Women  Artists,  460,  462. 

Women  Art  Patrons,  457,  463,  470. 

Women  Clerks  in  New  York,  381, 
444.  451- 

Women’s  Club  of  America,  282,  313, 
3i4.  371- 


Women’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  351,  354,  355. 

Women  in  Art,  455,  457. 

Women  in  Business,  379,  381,  416, 

434- 

Women  in  Charities,  281,  282. 
Women  in  Church  Work,  281,  2S2, 
326,  344- 

Women  in  Education,  2x2,  281. 
Women’s  Exchanges,  421,  422. 
Women  in  Fiction,  179,  194. 

Women  in  Home  Missions,  281,  282. 
Women  in  Industry,  164. 

Women  in  Journalism,  179,  205. 
Women  in  Law,  381,  390,  408. 
Women  in  Literature,  179,  181. 
Women  in  Medicine,  381,  382.  389. 
Women  in  Music,  458,  459. 

Women  in  Philanthropy,  28X,  282. 
Women  in  Poetry,  179,  181. 

Women  in  Professions,  379. 
Women’s  National  Indian  Associ¬ 
ation,  295,  299,  301. 

Women’s  Protective  Agencies,  284. 
Women’s  Press  Associations,  210, 
2x1,  314. 

Women  of  Plymouth  Colony,  18, 

36-39. 

Women’s  Sanitary  Associations,  284. 
Women  in  Science,  212,  281. 
Women’s  Temperance  Publishing 
Association,  285,  352,  353,  427. 
Women  in  Trade,  379,  416,  435. 
Working  Girl’s  Clubs,  167,  282,  344, 
350- 

Working  Women’s  Society,  442,  443. 
Work  of  Women  During  the  War, 
282,  2S9,  293. 

Women’s  Work  for  Indians,  282, 
294-304. 

Wormeley,  Katharine  Prescott,  183. 
Woodbury,  Mrs.  Anna  Lowell,  364, 
365- 

Wood,  Frances  Fisher,  221,  264. 
Wood,  Mrs.,  51. 

Woods,  Katharine  Pearson,  381, 

435- 

Woolson,  Constance  Femmore,  201. 
Wrenshall,  Ellen,  58. 


Y 

Yandell,  Miss  Enid,  163. 

Young  Women’s  Christian  Associ¬ 
ations,  167,  341,  342. 


INDEX. 


Young  Women’s  Temperance 
Unions,  167,  282,  354,  358. 


z 

Zakzrewska,  Marie,  383^  384. 


i 


505 


% 


